Construction Equipment Guide
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Sat December 23, 2000 - Midwest Edition
The final days of December bring with them a feeling of closure, while the first days of January bring the promise of a fresh start. That is especially true this year for two longtime veterans of Fabick Tractor. Ed Trenary, machine order/traffic manager, and Tom Fichter, vice president, will say goodbye to the industry and start a new chapter in their lives as they begin their retirements.
Trenary has been with Fabick for 32 years. He founded the traffic department and in time took over the machine order department as well.
“I founded the department. In the beginning it was me, myself and I. It mushroomed from there. In the end, I had four people working for me,” Trenary said.
Before coming to Fabick, Trenary worked for Goodyear in its rail shipping area for four years.
He is counting down the days until Dec. 29, his last at Fabick.“I have a retirement clock countdown in my office that counts days, minutes and seconds, not that I am in a hurry to retire.”
Even though he is ready to be on his way, he said, “I’ll miss the people around here. I’ve always enjoyed my job, and never been bored in my work.
“It’s a good company, they have been good to me.”
Trenary said he plans to “travel, travel, travel with my wife and do anything I damn-well please. And my grandkids will keep me pretty busy.”
Fichter started out in the old industrial (engine) division 35 years ago in 1965.
After that, he worked in the general line sales territory for 15 years from 1968-1983. He became a sales manager for the metropolitan St. Louis area from 1983-86. He then held various positions in management leading to his current position.
Fichter will be retiring on the last day of 2000.
What he’ll miss most, he said, is the people he sees everyday. “The day to day activity- the good, bad and the ugly. I’ll miss all of it.”
Fichter said one thing he will definitely do in his retirement is relax. For “one year I’m doing nothing. Then we are traveling to Florida.”
He had much to say about the company to which he dedicated 35 years. “The company is still a people business, no matter what e-business says it is. It is still a people business and we need to keep it going that way,” he noted.