VALDOSTA —
Albert Herndon’s daughters lied to him Monday on his 80th birthday, but it was for a good cause. They told him they were taking him to the Smok’n Pig for his birthday lunch, but instead, they brought him to a surprise party in his honor at Pipkin Motors.
“Sorry, we fibbed,” said his daughters as an obviously pleased and excited Herndon realized he was the reason for the party. But the celebration will be short lived as Herndon will be back at his desk at Pipkin today, as he has been since 1951.
“I graduated from Quitman High School in 1950 and went to auto trade school for 12 months. I started as a mechanic in 1951, but I’ve had just about every job there is in the dealership since then,” Herndon said.
His father was in the timber industry in South Georgia, and Herndon said he knew that it wasn’t for him. One year when he was in high school, he and his father went fishing and his dad’s 1949 Chevrolet caught on fire.
“He towed it home and then fixed it himself. He rebuilt it and drove it for years. Watching him, I thought, ‘Maybe that’s what I’ll do,’ and he thought it was a fine idea. He told me that there will always be automobiles and I’d always have a job. I might not be rich, but I’ve always had a job.”
When Herndon began with Pipkin, it was an Oldsmobile dealership on Gordon and Ashley streets. In 1961, the dealership moved across the street to Williams and Gordon and became a Volkswagen dealership, adding Subaru in 1975.
Over the years, Herndon has been a service manager, parts manager, service advisor, and for the last 12 years has been the warranty administrator, working part time, two or three days a week.
“Why would I retire? I enjoy working for the Pipkins. They’re good Christian people and they’ve always been good to me,” he said.
David Pipkin is running the family dealership founded by his grandfather, Emmet Pipkin Sr., in 1935. Herndon worked for Emmet Pipkin Jr. for many years and has worked in the dealership since before David was born.
“He’ll be here forever; he loves it here. He’s a model employee and I’ve never had a complaint about him from another employee or a customer, and that’s rare,” said Pipkin, who’s been working at the dealership since 1973.
Herndon said working on cars used to be much easier, before computers, but he enjoyed it and also enjoyed working as a service writer, which he did from 1965 to 2002. The only down side was dealing with complicated problems and angry customers.
“They complain to the service writer, not the
technician, when something goes wrong. I still have dreams about when we’d have complicated problems and having to deal with the customers,” he said, adding that his current job as warranty administrator is wonderful, because “computers don’t talk back.”
Not that Herndon didn’t enjoy working with customers, and they certainly loved him, but when it was time to move on to a new position, he was happy to do so.
“I’ve been blessed. I’ve had some health problems but the Good Lord has seen me through. I feel good and I’ve always tried to live right. I don’t drink or smoke, and neither does my brother, who’s a preacher. We both have tried to live right.”
Herndon said others tried to lure him away from Pipkin over the years, but he stayed.
“I was always satisfied, and I think I made the right decision by staying.”
Herndon married his sweetheart, Dolly, in 1953, and they have three daughters, Cathie, Wanda and Darlene, seven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
“I’m a lucky man.”
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