‘Mr. Bernie’ has been a fixture at Albany plumbing supply company for 64 years

By Alan Mauldin
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ALBANY – Bernie Haldeman Jr. graduated from Albany High School on June 2, 1960. The next day, he showed up for his first shift on the job at Engineering & Equipment Co. He’s been showing up ever since.

After more than 60 years on the job, Haldeman, know affectionately by co-workers as “Mr. Bernie’,” now a sales representative, is retiring at the end of the month.

During his senior year of high school, Haldeman had a moment in the spotlight, being named state president of the Future Farmers of America.

“While state president, I had dinner with (President) Dwight Eisenhower,” he said. “(U.S. Sen.) Herman Talmadge was with me. I was 18 down from the table from the president.”

The trip to the nation’s capital was memorable for the teenage Haldeman.

“The cherry blossoms in Washington were beautiful,” he said. “It was springtime. The Washington Monument was so amazing.”

The 500-foot-tall structure also was a challenge for the high school senior. The cost to ride the elevator to the top and back down was $20, he said, and being young, he figured he could save the money by taking the stairs.

Haldeman made it to the top, but he forked over his money for the trip back to ground level.

“I didn’t walk down,” he said. “I was worn out.”

It was also during his senior year that he got a job at the Albany company that was founded in 1937 and now has offices in Columbus and Waycross, as well as Panama City and Tallahassee in Florida.

“I called and interviewed and had a job while I was still in high school,” Haldeman said. “I graduated on a Monday morning, and I was here on Tuesday morning.

“I was in the training program. I started in the warehouse, then they put you out on the road. I got to like people. I like to help people. You can help people; some people you can’t help.”

After graduation, Haldeman said he didn’t have much money. He grew up on a farm near the Dougherty County/Worth County line, where his parents were comfortable on a 300-acre farm on Highway 133 but didn’t have a lot of money to send him to college.

“I was born and raised on a farm in east Dougherty County,” he said. “My dad was a naturalized citizen from Switzerland.”

To pay his way through school, Haldeman alternated working for one quarter and attending classes for one quarter. A meal would often be a honey bun, which cost 10 cents.

“The only thing that bothered me is my classmates got ahead of me,” he said. “It took a while. I didn’t suck off my parents. I’d probably do it again.”

It was while in college that Haldeman met his wife, Judy, to whom he’s still married and with whom he had a son, Bo, and daughter, Lisa. Haldeman eventually earned his degree at ABAC in agricultural engineering.

While on the road, Haldeman put in the miles on his sales route, wearing out 14 cars along the way. Among the hazards company personnel faced during that time was Baker County Sheriff Warren “Gator” Johnson, who was infamous for ticketing out-of-county drivers, Haldeman said.

“We started detouring around Baker County,” he said.

Haldeman, who lives in Tifton, is still the first to get to the office in Albany, arriving at 7:30 a.m., when he starts answering each day’s first phone calls.

“I’ve always been a self-starter,” he said. “My daddy always said, ‘Be responsible for what you do.’ That means if you got some tools out, put them back, clean them up. The job isn’t completed until you put them away.

“I’ve always liked working with people. I prefer trouble-shooting. The main thing I found in this business is listen to the customer and then go one step further and get him what he wants.”

After so many years on the job, Haldeman said he is not sure what the future holds. Prior to the death of his daughter, a speech pathologist in the Tift County School System, due to cancer, the family took regular trips to Gatlinburg, Tennessee. But he said those are not the same anymore.

One lesson Haldeman’s father imparted is still with him, and that is to be decent.

“Daddy always said to be decent,” he said. “If you can help somebody before the day’s over, do it. I was at Wal-Mart the other day and this lady was $41 short. I said just put it on my bill.

“It gives you a warm feeling. It was $41. That’s what my mom called being decent.”

Staff Photo: Alan [email protected]
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