Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Celebrating a Heritage

I rose from stock clerk to director of material
by Charles R.

My story is about a family that was very dedicated to company and a company that was very good to that family. In my family, there were four boys and one girl. All four boys, our brother-in-law and our dad worked and retired from General Dynamics, a Lockheed Martin heritage company. As a family, we accumulated 201 years at the company; 273 years when you include two of our wives and several children. I was especially blessed in my work. I never had to play politics or forfeit my religious principles to succeed. I began work as a young 18-year-old college dropout employed as a stock clerk with a pay rate of $36.40 a week. I was given the opportunity to learn and to use my God-given talents. I had the opportunity to travel to multiple countries in my management role. I retired at 60 years old after managing hundreds of people as director of material. The company provided a wonderful retirement for me and for my wife. We recently celebrated our 62nd anniversary.