WALTHAM, MA — After more than 50 years, owned and operated by the same family, the Sunoco at Ellison Park is switching hands, announced Joan Shablin Wednesday.

"This will be a bitter-sweet day for all of us," wrote Shablin on the service station's Facebook page. On December 23, 1968 Shablin's parents, Joseph ("Joe Sunoco") and Rita LeBlanc took a huge risk and invested almost every penny they had to take a chance with the Ellison Park Sunoco, near the corne of Main and Linden streets, she said.

It helped the family buy a home and make a life in Waltham. "My father used to have a gas special…if you filled your gas tank, he would give you a 10-pound bag of potatoes," posted Shablin.

For 32 years her father and mother ran the business, putting a premium on community and honesty, she said.

In 1989 Paul Shablin, Joan's then-boyfriend started working full-time for Joan's father. The two got married and then in 2000, when her father retired, he asked Paul to take over the business. The rest is history, she said.

"I am very proud of Paul, stepping up to the plate and doing everything in his power to make the gas station work, and that he did," said Joan who works at Brandeis University.

"We are forever grateful to my parents for giving us this opportunity...most days were good and some days were not so good, but it's given us a good life and now it's time to pass the torch," she wrote.

The Shablins said they would now focus on enjoying the little things. "On to the next phase of life," she wrote.

