Grady Winkler calls it a career after 53 years working at Texas A&M

His past has seen him become a skilled pool player and a poker aficionado. In addition to being a master electrician, Winkler dabbles in carpentry, shooting and fishing. He’s also a history buff, with an extensive library covering wars, military and government.

Winkler, who lives in rural Bryan, has a number of ways to stay busy, and he’ll need all of them when he calls it a career after 53 years working at Texas A&M University. He started at the school’s facilities services department in 1971 and has had a first-hand view of the area’s development until his final shift on Wednesday.

“It’s been amazing,” Winkler said. Many, many parts of this campus were literally pasture. All of where Zachry Engineering [Education Complex] sits — the golf course was there, but it was kind of primitive. Just the fact that there’s so many high rises and all the buildings are jammed right next to each other now.”

But don’t be fooled — only a few days removed from his 79th birthday on July 29, Winkler still has some tread left on his tires. Admittedly, he’d work until he was 90 if he could, but extra time with his wife, Wendy, and four children, 11 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren lends some appeal to his decision to retire.

“I was born working,” Winkler said. “I’m used to working and I like working.”

That’s for sure. Winkler wasted little time getting to work in his adult life, enlisting in the U.S. Navy on his 17th birthday in 1962. For eight years, the Montana native served as a fire control technician as he managed radar on U.S. ships, including during the Vietnam War. Winkler’s experience with electric work paved the way for his future in Texas.

“It was excellent,” Winkler said. “The Navy prepared me for everything.”

His career at A&M began with simply inquiring about a job availability at the facility department’s front desk. Winkler started as an electrician’s helper at the university’s Physical Plant, repairing televisions, PA systems and intercoms and making $2.65 an hour. It was an upgrade from his $2.10 hourly pay with Community Cablevision, his first job in College Station that saw him install cable in people’s homes.

Now, he leaves his post as a construction inspector and HazMat coordinator for SSC Services for A&M. In that role, Winkler documented the work of building contractors and ensured building plans, design standards and codes were followed. He also oversaw the removal of asbestos from older facilities on campus and checked that asbestos materials weren’t used in the construction of buildings on campus.

“We’ve been working at it for 35-some years and we’ve taken out probably millions of square feet of floor tile and sheet rock that has asbestos-containing materials in it,” Winkler said. “Up until the time that they quit using it, we faithfully used it and then we started faithfully taking it out.”

Winkler played a role in the inspection of a number of the most iconic landmarks on A&M’s campus, including the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library & Museum and the John R. Blocker Building. He designed and constructed several benches in the school’s historic Academic Building that remain there today.

Winkler was also involved in one of the most notable yet tragic events in A&M history, the 1999 Bonfire collapse that killed 11 students and one former student. After being on campus the day of the collapse, he and his team later performed inspections of the Bonfire Memorial constructed on campus in 2004.

“When I got in that morning [of the collapse], they called us up and told us to go to the site and take our cell phones and give them to students that were standing around,” Winkler said. “We were told to give them our cell phones and have them call their parents to tell them that they were all right to cut down the anxiety with the parents.”

It’s not Winkler’s first shot at retirement after an initial attempt at calling it quits in 2001. However, it became clear that a life of lounging around at home wasn’t for him.

“It was terrible,” Wendy said. “I worked until 3 [p.m.] and if it was 3:15, he was calling me, saying, ‘Why aren’t you home? Did you have an errand to run?’ He was bored out of his life. Even though there’s projects, it’s still not making you get up and go out and have a purpose in that morning.”

So, it was no surprise that, less than a year later, Winkler found himself back at the facilities services building on West Campus, taking the opportunity to return to work after his successor suffered a heart attack. His supervisor, David Godby, was quick to offer Winkler the position in a part-time role for the next 22 years.

“I was glad to be back,” Winkler said. “All my friends work here.”

Andrea Wienen, Class of ‘93, worked under Winkler as a student employee in 1991, surveying buildings on campus for ADA compliance and evaluating what modifications would need to be made to bring facilities up to code. Times have changed, though, as she now supervises Winkler as SSC’s manager of operations.

“He was always welcoming and sharing of his knowledge,” Wienen said. “[He’s] the most loyal employee that we’ve ever had. Genuine and loyal is how I would describe Grady.”

Deborah Hardt, senior program manager, worked hand in hand with Winkler during his time as a project superintendent on job sites. She attested to his proactivity and hard work displayed on the job.

“He’s one of the best and is really gonna be missed,” Hardt said. “He was always on top of everything. He knew exactly what was going on on the job site. … He was like an extension of me. … You never really had to tell him what to do. He knew exactly what [to do].”

Jeff Heye, regional director of operations for SSC’s engineering, design and construction services (EDSC) department, said Winkler’s attention to detail and focus on safety help make the work of other A&M faculty and staff possible. Heye added that Winkler brings reassurance to his co-workers that a job will be done correctly.

“I was telling Grady how neat it is for him to be a part of that and help all these student and these researchers that helped change the world,” Heye said. “He’s very conscious of making sure we keep the environment safe for the students and for the visitors on campus. He’s always been good about making sure the contractors are crossing every ‘t’ and dotting every ‘i’ and doing things the right way.”

The feeling amongst Wendy and Winkler’s co-workers was that a retirement party was deserved to properly commemorate 53 years of service to A&M. Winkler, though, was having none of it. His message to his family? “Save your money.”

“I just don’t like the fanfare,” Winkler said. “I intended to just fade out. I did not know about this [interview] until last night. Like I’ve told everybody here, I’m just ready to go home, and that’s about all I can say about that. I don’t need the fanfare.”

Fanfare or not, Winkler will be remembered by his co-workers of over half a century for dedication to his career. And, if history is any indication, there could be more years to come.

“He’s already threatened to come back to visit,” Wienen said with a laugh. “He can’t stay away. We’re a part of his family.”