About 46 years ago, Archie Parrish needed a job. He knew he was pretty good at working with his hands. He also knew that Gregory Poole Equipment Company was hiring. Shortly after a mutual friend of his and the Poole’s encouraged him to apply, he went to work at the company making $1 an hour as a mechanic’s helper.
“They ran an ad in the paper that they were looking for workers and they would train people,” Parrish said. “At that time, I wished I knew how to work on equipment so I applied and got the job. Of course, a dollar went a lot further then.”
Today, he is a man of leisure after recently retiring from the Caterpillar dealership. For almost 50 years, Gregory Poole Equipment Company has served as eastern North Carolina’s Caterpillar dealership and for most of those years, Archie Parrish’s skills led the service department in repairing equipment for its customers.
He may not be punching in every day, but his work at the shop has not been forgotten. Co-workers and customers of Archie Parrish call his work in the equipment repair business in eastern North Carolina legendary.
Gregory Poole Equipment is a family-run operation. Parrish’s career spanned three generations of Pooles including Gregory Poole Sr., Gregory Poole Jr. and Gregory Poole III.
Gregory Poole Jr., who retired about two years ago himself, said Parrish was just like a member of the family.
“He worked for the company longer than anyone else ever has,” said Gregory Poole Jr. “He had an automotive/farm equipment background in Franklin County, NC, and he came over and applied asking for an entry-level job. He didn’t represent having any skills and I don’t think at the time anyone knew about his background. We just needed young men who were strong and able and willing to work for us.”
That was in 1954. Parrish didn’t work as a mechanic’s helper for long before company leaders realized his talents and moved him up the ladder. For several years he was a field mechanic and at the time of his retirement he was a master technician.
“We quickly learned that Archie had a lot of God-given ability mechanically,” Poole Jr. added. “He has an investigative mind and must have a photographic memory as to how things are assembled. He could take it apart and put it back together better than anyone I have ever seen. The more complex the problem was, the more challenged Archie was. He was not easily stumped or discouraged in the search for the solution as to why something had failed.”
Poole Jr. added he was often amazed when Parrish would say, “let me think about this overnight,” and sure enough the next day Parrish would come in with an analysis as to why something wouldn’t be working right. It wasn’t just his co-workers that noticed his talents. Customers from around the area quickly learned about Parrish and wanted his assistance with their equipment.
“His reputation spread throughout eastern North Carolina,” Poole Jr. said. “Our customers frequently asked if Archie was available. If they needed a technician, they wanted Archie. His affiliation with our company gave our service department an outstanding reputation.”
Parrish said the Pooles give him too much credit.
“I always tried hard, but I think I had them fooled a little bit,” he said. “I don’t think I could live up to the reputation they gave me, but it makes me feel good anyway.”
Parrish continued to receive greater and greater responsibilities in the service arena. He became a mentor to young technicians who admired him and wanted to learn from him things about equipment repair that couldn’t be found in a textbook.
Service Manager Marc Alkire, who worked with Parrish for 16 years and was his supervisor upon retirement, said it feels like something is missing in the service department now.
“It has created a void in our work group having him gone,” he said. “Sometimes you don’t realize what someone brings to the table until they are not here. He was sort of like a patriarch.”
Alkire said Parrish helped teach his co-workers by walking them through the problem on a piece of equipment and challenging them to determine a solution.
“He was always willing to help, but he never would just give you the answer to a problem,” Alkire said. “He would ask questions and lead you down the road to help you answer the questions. He took the long way around so you could understand what you were doing. He would never take you the shortcut, but when you were done you understood what you had done and why you did it.”
Parrish’s talents are not just limited to fixing Cat equipment. He can fix almost any mechanical, electrical and hydraulically-operated equipment. In fact, his hobby is acquiring and fixing vintage engines.
“It is safe to bet that Archie has one of the finest collections anywhere,” Poole Jr. said.
Parrish’s talents often amazed Alkire.
“He has this uncanny ability that any technician would love to have,” he said. “He could look at something, tell how it works and could fix it without using a manual. He was a craftsman whereas a lot of the other guys are into replacing parts. He liked to fix them rather than replace them with new parts. If he understood the principle of how it was supposed to work, he could figure out what was wrong with it.”
Poole Jr. said Parrish was not only a talented mechanic. He was ambitious.
“One of the great things about Archie was whenever you needed him to go on a service call, he was always ready to go,” he added. “He was always willing to take care of the customer. He never gave excuses as to why he couldn’t do that.”
If Parrish’s health would allow it, he would still be battling broken equipment today at the Gregory Poole shop.
“I miss it,” he said, explaining that arthritis is forcing him to stay off his feet. “If it wasn’t for that, I would still be fixing parts. But I am starting to get settled into my new routine.”
He said he has plenty to do, from tinkering with old engines in his collection to completing his honey-do list created by Mavis, his wife.
“I am spending more time with her than I ever have in my life,” he joked. “She stays busy socializing and keeping me busy.”
Most of all, Parrish misses working with the Pooles, who he simply called “good people.”
“They are the best people you could ever meet,” he said. “I don’t know where you could find any better. They are civic minded and Christian people.”
Current President and CEO Greg Poole III said Parrish’s retirement leaves a void in the service department — a void that young technicians in the company are striving to fill.
“Archie was regarded as such a stabilizing influence,” he said. “He had so much experience on so many things that’s difficult to replace over night or over time for that matter.”
Many of the company’s younger technicians got to work with Parrish and they were able to take away a lot of experience from his knowledge.
“He has always been someone you could turn to for help,” he said. “He would use it as a teaching process so you would always learn something as you came away from an Archie experience.”
Poole III said Parrish’s experience with older equipment will never be matched.
“We will miss a lot of the old machine experience that goes with him,” he said. “A lot of our newer guys don’t have the experience on the older stuff and many of the pieces of equipment that Archie worked on were older than some of these guys.”
But they are catching on quick and their talents have helped Gregory Poole Equipment maintain the reputation of excellent in eastern North Carolina.
“We have got some good, young talent coming up through the ranks,” he added. “We have several shining stars.”
Gregory Poole Equipment Co. was founded in 1951 by W.L. Gregory and Gregory Poole Sr. They currently have a staff of 280 technicians.
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