For more than three decades the trustees of Independence Township have counted on Brian Graham to do whatever work needs doing.
But in October, Graham - the township's only employee - will retire after 33 years.
"There's just a lot of things that Brian knows about that nobody else does," Trustee Jedd Butler said. "There are places where there's bedrock in the middle of the road and it'll catch the grader blade.
"He's been a real blessing for this (township) for the fact that he knows what needs done when it needs done," he said. "He's just a wonderful, wonderful fellow."
For now, Graham is training his replacement in how to do the job, which includes everything from mowing and grading roads to, at least once, removing dead livestock.
Question: What are your duties?
Fact Box
Brian Graham
Age: 52.
Residence: Independence Township.
Family: Wife, Kathy; sons, Nick and Karl.
Occupation: Operator, Independence Township, 33 years.
Answer: I grade the roads, mow the roads, cut brush, patch potholes. If it's done, I do it. Clean ditches, culverts.
Q: Sounds like you have to be a jack of all trades.
A: Yeah. I do a large part of the maintenance on the equipment.
Q: How have your duties changed over the years?
A: When I started, we had a tractor with a sickle bar to mow with. And of course now we've got a tractor with a brush hog. And a long time ago when I started, I used to mow the cemetery. And now they contract them and I don't have to do it, which is a big relief.
When I came in ... we had a '64 grader and a '64 dump truck. And the tractor we mowed with was a '72 John Deere. ... They were outdated before I got in. So we've got all new equipment now, pretty new.
Q: What's one of the most unusual thing you've had to do in this job?
A: Probably one of the worst things I could think of, in one of the floods we had a dead cow wash up on one of the (bridges). We had to get it off the road. ... We just took the backhoe. It was on the bridge, and we pulled it up out of the water and the owner came and got it.
Q: How did you come to work for the township?
A: I was working as an auto mechanic, and one of the trustees came to me and wanted to know if I wanted a job. ... He and I both grew up in this area.
Q: Did you expect it to be a job that lasted 33 years?
A: No. I wanted to stay a mechanic, but it worked out this way.
Q: What do you like about the job?
A: Once you get done with a road, how much better it looks, either grading or mowing. Somebody comes to you with a problem, you try to help 'em out.
Q: Will you miss it when you retire?
A: No. I'm presently pumping oil wells on the side, so I'm going from one job to the other.
