Derrell Mcdougald Ii
That photo is the Jimmy I remember.
Maybe with shorter hair. But not by much.
Jimmy trained me as a young buck and was instrumental in my career path and choice. I was a better tech because of him and a mutual friend Ed. JImmy you will be missed.
A quick short story. First day on the job Jimmy tells me, "climb that pole and change out that drop." He then heads to the house. I grab my tool belt and notice that he left the ladder locked on the truck. I chase him down near the ground block and said, "Hey. The ladder is locked." He looks at the pole and then looks at the drop; looks at me and says, "there is no ladder work here." So I grab my hooks out of the truck and cuss his name the whole way up the pole. The whole time I am doing the drop work, and the whole way back down the pole. He smiles at me and says good job.
Fast forward to about 4 months later. I have been climbing poles for him for months now. We pull up to a house with a pole that looks like it is about to fall apart. Vines climbing up it, bushes all around it. A total hot mess. Of course. I knew the deal. Change the drop. I grabbed my hooks. As I was getting ready to put them on I looked up and secretly wished I could use a ladder. There it was. Lo and behold the lock removed and was laying on the side rail of the truck. I didn't have to climb this pole.
That was the day that I knew I would be a great tech. That was the day I realized Jimmy was an amazing supervisor. That day I realized I would be a great tech because of Jimmy. A person who for only the second time in my life cared and nurtured me into what I became later in life. Jimmy was the guy who would invest in your future. He would suffer in silence to make sure you had the tools you needed to be successful. As a matter of fact, later in life I would tell people those exact words. I will give you all the tools you need to be successful. Because that is what Jimmy taught me to do and taught me how to treat those I was leading. He was a leader.
By the way Jimmy. I did pretty well. I am thankful for you and will miss you. I have you to thank. I am grateful that our paths crossed.
You are missed.
Derrell
