What does your Dad do (or did) for work?

[rflnomad]

Originally Posted by Loafer

That must have been interesting, could they talk about their work?

They both did a bunch! My Father told me of caterings for the horse racing industry in Lexington. He would take me to places with horse owners and farms. Even owned his own restraunt for a while. It is werid, I have always wanted to open a small place myself.

My Dad spoke about work at P&W daily. He went to the Navy to convince them NOT to use the TF-30 in the Grumman F-14 Tomcat. He tried to tell them the airframe was more advanced and needed a engine with more power (thrust) to fully grasp the performance envelope this amazing jet had. The Navy did not want to do it. They wanted to have a "standard powerplant". Less spare parts, cross utilization yada yada. He proposed a new massivly powerful engine to be designed. It did not happen. A few years later, The Navy switched to the GE engine which had more of the things he said.
His rocket involvment was extensive as well. We would watch EVERY rocket launch no matter WHAT time it happened.

They both shaped me. Both in ways I should live my life and ways I should NOT live my life.

Both were car fans. Have a picture of my father when he was in high school working on a transmission. My father got me into motorcycles at 9 years old.

[Loafer]

Very Cool.

[vaquero1700rider]

My dad which in another thread you guys have seen he an I share the common interest of riding motorcycle. Well growin up my dad drove tractor trailer for a living for my entire life that's all I remember an I grew up always sayin I'll drive one some day ( even had a t-shirt that said it).
Well my dad still drives Tractor trailer to this day an well Im on my 8th year of drivin truck myself so i guess we share 2 passions

[davidhollinger]

Well this is an interesting thread and like others have said, I could write pages and pages and I actually have. I will let my kids read them someday but my father was 2 people. Early in life as a single parent he was a strict drunken chain smoking disciplinarian with 2 boys that hated him. He worked as a steel straightener for what was then Bush Hog Continental. He retired from there a few years ago after the company sold out to foreign investors and shut the plant down. He loves farming and gardening and used to force us to plant plow and hoe for hours. I cant stand even looking at a garden to this day.
After I moved out and 20 years had flown by he was a recovered kind old bird that everyone thought was the sweeteest old guy ever. He even volunteers and even helps the shut ins. I have reconciled with him and we are very close now but it still pisses me off to hear how sweet he is when people dont know his history. A true love hate relationship that baffles me.

[blowndodge]

My did worked for Northrup Grumman. Never talked about what he did much but once in a while he'd bring home some real "exotic" metal for us to look at. He was born in Los Angeles and was the California State heavyweight wrestling champion for 3 straight years. Taught me how to fight. Everyone who ends up fighting grapples and NEVER grapple with a wrestler was my Dad's saying. He is a big man 6'4" 275lbs.

He fought in the Korean War and lost a lot of friends. After the war he tried a stint of professional football and played with Hugh Mcelhenny as they are the same age. Both competed against each other in high school as my dad went to Fremont high and Hugh went to Washington Prep. During one of their game they got into a fist fight. Mcelhenny went on to have a notable career with the Niners, Vikings and Giants I believe. Dad quit pursuing football.

My biggest critic most of my entire life. He grew up and never got over being raised in poverty after the great depression era. He retired at 55 through clever financial maneuvering and hasn't lifted a finger since! My siblings consider him an "odd" fellow but I have forgiven him for his critical ways and demeanor. He's on his last legs and I tell him I love him everytime I see him. He could have been much more of a dad but chose not to.

I'm nothing like him.....

[Todd]

Ok, I like this thread.

My dad was raised on a farm and after high school did one year of college before joining the Navy. He was a mechanic on a destroyer. Later he ran a tug boat on the west coast for the Navy. He would tell a story of getting top secret clearance and transporting a top secret payload on his tug under bridges that eventually ended up being dropped at Eniwetok in the early 1950's. Never verified that, but would not be surprised...

He then returned home and became a diesel mechanic working on heavy construction machinery and then a GM mechanic. He did a short stint as a salesman for GM and then around 1970 got a job with Eastern Airlines working on the flight ground crew. He worked there until 1986 when he retired and my parents moved to the NC coast and Dad began his own charter fishing business. He did that until somewhere around 1992 or 1993 when his favorite pasttime passion became his work and he got burned out on it. Around that time a friend of his that worked on a golf course ( SE North Carolina and NE South Carolina, Myrtle Beach area, is a huge golfing destination) was talking about an issue they were having with some machinery on the golf course and Dad said he would come look at it. He fixed that machinery, a couple others, and was offered a 'full-time' retirement job with benefits. The union had busted Eastern Airlines by that time and all his retirement benefits except a small portion of the pension was gone including medical insurance, life insurance, etc....That's a whole other thread. He took that job and worked at the golf course until May 12, 1997. His alarm went off that morning and he sat up in the bed and told my mom that he had to get up and get ready for work....he laid back down and died in his sleep that morning from a heart attack.

My Dad could fix anything especially if it was mechanical. In 1976 we had a huge stand of pine trees that got bark beetles in them. He decided we would log those woods, have the trees cut into lumber and WE would go build a house on a lot we owned at the beach, We did just that..built the entire house with the exeption of pouring the footing and laying the block foundation...from plumbing to electrical to framing to finish caprpentry to laying flooring. My Mom still lives in that house at the beach.

I credit my ability to tear down and fix most anything to him. I bugged him enough with questions as a kid and later. I still find myself working on something new and think "Dad could tell me exactly how to do this". I remember him explaining internal combustion to me when I was early in elementary school so I could work on my mini-bike and explaining what horsepower meant among 100's of other conversations.

He taught me to hunt, fish, work, live, respect, and enjoy... among several hundred other things.

[Blueraven]

My DAD recently passed in Feb 2013 at the age of 80. He had a grad 10 education and was not allowed to go to college. Served in the RCAF for 5 years. He worked at P&G for 35+ years. He worked insulating pipes, got his AZ license and worked in the oil department all at P&G. Retired at 60 and had a great retirement. Miss him dearly.

[fish]

My father worked at Bethlehem steel then enlisted into WWII came out after the war bought a small farm and raised chickens, no my name isn't Purdue.
then had a painting biz for years. He passed away 13 years ago at age 78. Just like me he always worked two jobs.

[bibendum]

Fish, have you seen what remains of the original Bethlehem steel plant? Very interesting repurposing happening there now.

[c_law23]

My dad passed in 2007 at 59, I was 24. He retired from a local Air Force base then went to school to become an accountant. Then was an accountant until he was no longer able to work. I bought my first bike a couple months after he passed and it did a lot to help me reminisce and reflect. He overcame a LOT in his lifetime due to a physical disability. Inspirational guy.

[ccmjr77]

My Dad was in the Navy for 4 years and then went to work for Ford Motor Company in Atlanta GA. He worked there for 31 years and retired in 1987, same year I got married.
He has been retired ever since. He still lives in GA, he is 78, that is one reason I want to move my to the southeast from AZ. Ford plant in Atlanta closed a few years ago. He used to ride motorcycles. I used to ride with him when I was a kid. In 1990, he was hit by a 67 yr old woman drunk driver while out riding. He lost his right leg in the crash. He has been walking with an artificial leg since then.

[Bud2rat]

My dad retired from the Army, serving 30 years. After retiring he did security work for Belk's department store before going to work with the Postal Service for 18 years. Dad was done most of my childhood years traveling for Uncle Sam. By the time I was 21 dad had been gone for 14 of those years. Since he retired from the USPS he starting going to church with my mom and He has since given his life over to serving the Lord. We have gotten closer over the last few years. He loves fishing, old cars, watching TV and vanilla ice cream. I'm thankfully he is still with us, but he health seems to be failing. He doesn't get around as well as he would like. I love my dad and I try to tell him every chance I can.

[Loafer]

Bud2rat / Bob, my dad's favorite ice cream was Maple Walnut. Glad you are spending some time with him.

[keith217]

Wow. Good thread, made me think back on a lot of things. My father certain wasn't as interesting as many of your fathers. He was a real estate agent, who enjoyed eating well and the company of his family. He gave me everything I ever asked for growing up, so for that I'm extremely thankful.

[RACNRAY]

YES...GREAT THREAD!
My dad grew up on a farm in Wisconsin, went into the Navy and was in Korea and Japan during the Korean War and was in the SeaBee's. He eventually became a heavy equiptment mechanic.

Married my mom in 1957 and had us 4 kids. Dad was both real good and real bad.
He beat the holy living crap outa my mom for many years and had no concern for how it affected his kids or her. At the same time he told us kids unconditionally to "mind your mother"! Dad taught me how to be, and more importantly how NOT to be.

He did work hard all the time as the only bread winner. He taught me "do it right the FIRST time or don't do it at all". He was very instrumental in leading me down the path of being a mechanic, and was responsible for bringing motorcycles into his kids lives, and got me the interview at the dealership where I started my carreer in the South Fla m/c biz in September 1976.

My dad could be extremely selfish and self centered but could also be a good man at times, and was always very unselfish in supplying us 4 kids with braces, glasses, etc. When he finally retired to ease himself into retirement he came to my shop and helped out where I needed help. At the end of his life he had Alzeimers. I would sit and listen to him tell his farm and Navy stories over and over as he could not remember that he just told me. I NEVER got tired of hearing those stories, and miss hearing them to this day. By then I had forgiven him for the pain he caused and cherish those last months with him. And the good memories from the past. Dad passed in Nov 2009.

For me he was the best example in my life of how NOT to be, and yet how TO be, and for all the lessons I learned and have yet to learn from him I am and will always be grateful.

I LOVE MY DAD

RACNRAY