Leroy A. Mcguire

1: Grocery Clerk - painting window ads, cutting pork loins & hams; taking orders & delivering twice daily in Olympia area.

1938-1942

2: Lived with Aunt and Uncle in Mud Bay who had auto shop, grocery store, service station & tavern that sold only bottled beer.

3: Apprentice cabinet maker

4: Truck driver

5: Working on a coal mining tipple dumping, sorting and filling RR cars & tracks & maintenance before & after working at home and weekends

6: Shipfitter in Bremerton Navy Shipyard after 6 months of schooling. Ship repair, then Shipfitter in Navy + 2 years, except it was submarine repair.

7: Was Fleet Carpenter for Maratime Reserve Fleet in Olympia, one of the first 5 men hired.

8: Started at Olympia Brewery as yard maintenance hand and elevating grains, etc. Only lasted a few months when asked if I would like to be a brewer? Had Uncle Martin McGuire, who was a brewer & well liked. Went through different jobs on the way up. Such as the Grind in man who elevated grains from various graining silos, weighed (specific weights) then sent them by regulator to the cooking pots, water added, and steam heated. Clean up man: Emptied the lauder and hop tubs, strainer and cleaned the filter plates, tubs and kettles. Second Brewer: Help coordinate all the above while learned the art of brewing. Worked 4 different shifts, 2 weeks on each shift. Left Brewery after 4 or 5 years. Next job: Erecting Silos made from concrete stones 30" long by approx 11 " wide, held together with galvanized rods & inside plastered. Worked one season for hourly wages then contracted to erect with a crew of others at so much per stave. This was with using company equipment. In winter time I repaired stave forms scaffolding and hoists & driving mixer truck or working in the truck shop as a mechanic helper, also worked in the plant on repairs. There was quite a bit of welding and brazing required. After 4 or 5 years 1 quit because the 2 boys needed a father 12 months of the year at home. Next job was fueling & minor maintenance on heavy duty equipment used for the installation of 2nd Electric power line from Black Lake sub- station to Shelton. October of 1956 Next, I worked felling trees for the 1-5 construction from Capitol Lake thru the Olympia water shed area. The last little stand of trees left had a tree with my name on it. Needless to say, it (the tree) won out. Worked one day on crutches at end of the next 5 months. Eventually 1 started driving dump truck for Capitol City fuel. Hauling Hog fuel from Tacoma Weyerhauser Mill to St Paul Plywood Plant in Olympia. Picked up Plywood core from two sources and log ends at Olympia Plywood, which we used their splitter to make furnace and fireplace wood. Log ends at that time were re-sewn to whatever length the orders depicted. The owner of Capitol City Fuel and I were neighbors and actually worked together at the Bucoda Coal Co at Tono, Washington. We were more like brothers the just acquaintances. Climbing up and down on a truck was getting too painful, so had an opportunity to take the swingshift Millwrights Job at Buchannen lumber Mill on the end of West Bay Drive, Olympia. My brother Jim was the head millwright on the day shift. I didn't mind him leaving orders, as we had worked together. He was a Gypo logger for a few years so I helped him out when he often needed help and doing carpenter work mostly for friends and relatives. My left leg finally refused to function so had a lower back fusion. Attended Tacoma Vocational technical institution for 2 years completing their engineer course. January 1962, found me working for the State Highway Department in District 3, Gorst, as a Technician 1. Which was low man on the totem pole wage wise. After 18 months, transferred to Olympia with a Engineer Tech III rating, at Headquarters Photogrammetry Division. Making the base sheets with grid lines and x-4-2 coordinated points and ground targeted points for flight control necessary for stereo models required by heavy plotters. This was before digital mapping which has the capability of recovery of all pointes stored by real or disks. Being able to see stereo was a must for all plotter operators at that time. Big strides in operation have taken place since I transferred to DNR Engineering Division as a Chief Draftsman. This job lasted until my retirement approximately 10 years later for a total of 21 years and 8 months as State worker, retired in 1983. Was asked if I would like to come back after 6 years of home "honey do" projects. Worked 3 six month periods in 3 consecutive years. But enough is enough. Am now looking for those Golden Years. As of now, it is January 2010, and I am looking back at those so called Golden Years.