McLeland reflects on a half century at Emerson/Fisher upon retirement
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Denny McLeland was fresh out of high school at BCL in 1972 and wondering what he would do next when he first got on as a freight handler at Ritchie Industries in Conrad -- for a whopping $3.30 an hour -- thanks to some encouragement from the late great Cliff Wilson, the legendary leader of that company for decades.
About a year later, he put in an application at what was then known as Fisher Controls, and the rest, as they say, is history. He started on June 4, 1973, and a half-century later -- June 30, to be exact -- McLeland finally retired from what has since become Emerson as a Level II assembler after spending nearly 20 years in his current department.
McLeland started at the Center Street facility in shipping, and during layoff periods, he bounced between downtown and Governor Road to perform a variety of duties -- throughout his career, he recalls working in shipping, building pilots, running machines, machine cleaning, deburring, painting, sandblasting and trucking, to name a few. In 1991, all assembly was moved out to Governor Road, and he spent his final 32 years there.
As simple as it sounds, McLeland referenced his upbringing when asked why he stayed at the same employer for so long.
"I credit all of this, me staying at one job, to my mom and dad. It's the way my mom and dad raised us. They raised us not to be quitters," he said. "I grew up on a farm. We had all the livestock you could think of, and we never got to take vacations because we had to milk cows."
Denny and his brother Jim, he added, didn't even leave the state of Iowa for the first time until they went to a Minnesota Twins game during their senior year of high school. He still hasn't lost his love of farming, either, as he still does it today with land between Marshalltown and Conrad.
"If you work hard (and) you keep working hard, you know it's gonna pay off," he said.
In retirement, he plans to keep things simple: keep farming, do a little camping and continue to follow his six grandkids through their activities at BCLUW -- one of them, Cayden McLeland, just completed his final baseball season with the Comets but will be running cross country at Central College in the fall.
If he has any advice for youngsters like his grandson who will be entering the workforce before long, it's that they should chase their ambitions wholeheartedly.
"Reach out for your dreams. If you have dreams in life, reach out for them. Stick it out," he said. "Don't quit with the first thing you go to do. Make sure you're happy, but reach out. Stick it out."
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Contact Robert Maharry at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.