ERNIE RETIRES
Julie Anne Phillipps, Asst. Public Information Officer
On July 22, 2004, Arizona State Parks’ master carpenter, Ernest (Ernie) Rollins, retired after 35 years of service. I liked Ernie for his humor and honesty, and happily took on writing a press release about Ernie’s service and retirement for our Northern Arizona media contacts. After its release, a co-worker asked, “since when does thirty-five years of employment deserve a press release?” surprised me.
I met Ernie when he came to the Phoenix Offices to install fixtures and paneling for the newly revamped gift shop. While water fountain-politicians debated the merits of the changes, Ernie tacked down his project by making sure the measurements were true. A delay waiting for supplies, gave me a chance to get to know Ernie, and I discovered a man who held an opinion or two about how things should be done.
Les Bovee at Dead Horse Ranch wrote up a page full of information about Ernie for the Public Information Office. From the list I found out that at Jerome State Historic Park, Ernie built rock retaining walls that still stand and planted a variety of plants that are still growing. At Jerome State Park, he designed and built a mystery cabinet with a design so subtle most people cannot see it. In his position in the Construction Services woodshop at Dead Horse Ranch, he designed projects that went into nearly every park in the park system. Everything Ernie tackled from finely crafting display cases, replacing historic replica doors, repairing windows frames and sashes, to constructing visitor contact desks are almost all still in use at the parks. The list mentioned that he designed and built desks, coffee tables, and bookshelves that remain in use at the Phoenix office too. So, I started hunting through the offices looking for his work.
First, I found a solidly built and functional desk in Jay Zeimann’s office and as I searched the second floor Melodie Lander dragged me into her office to show off the tall, beautifully constructed bookcases Ernie built. Quality deserves recognition, and as Les wrote, “Some of his construction projects are already over thirty-four years old and may someday become “historic” in their own right.” The list of projects Ernie mastered and completed seemed consistent with the man I met so, some of the other information Les sent really should not have surprised me.
Ernie also served two years with the Cottonwood Police Department, and seven years with the Cottonwood Volunteer Fire department, which included a two- year stint as chief, and three years as the training officer. I should not have been surprised. When supplies showed up at Phoenix, the time for visiting abruptly ended as Ernie took to getting his newest project underway. For several days, all I saw of Ernie was his legs hanging out of the ceiling, or scrawled across the floor as he fastened hasps, drove screws, hammered nails, and checked and double-checked measurements. The results of his fastidious construction show now as gift shop staff move and revise merchandise without any problems with the displays. Nothing breaks, nothing falls down, and nothing mysteriously collapses.
I like Ernie for his humor and honesty, and most of all I like what he showed me about how, in the end, what matters is the quality of the work. Thirty-five years of employment deserves recognition, but even if we do not get a press release when we retire, hopefully our work speaks for what we did after we leave.