Darryl and Merylan Lowrey in their living room today. On the table in front of them is a variety of phone equipment from Darryl's 40-year career.
Darryl Lowrey hangs up his tool belt after 40 years as “the telephone man”
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Darryl and Merylan Lowrey in their living room today. On the table in front of them is a variety of phone equipment from Darryl's 40-year career. |
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| Above, Darryl with his first work truck in 1970. Below: Darryl's last work vehicle as he prepared for retirement. |
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In 1970, a young Darryl Lowrey had just returned from military service, include one year in Vietnam. As a communications officer, looking for a job with the local telephone company seemed a natural fit. Apparently it was, because Darryl stuck with the job – for 40 years! He’s retired now and adjusting to no alarm clock – although he still wakes up early each morning.
“Old habits die hard,” he smiles.
Darryl and his wife, Merylan, live in Tarkio, MO, her hometown. Darryl grew up on a farm outside Pattonsburg, MO, east of Maryville. The couple met while in college at Northwest Missouri State University. Merylan finished school and taught math for several years. Darryl took a different path.
“After three years in college I was drafted and spent three years with Uncle Sam,” he explains. “When I got out, I needed a job and one of my stops was at the telephone company.
Darryl began his phone career at the top, so to speak, as a phone lineman.
“In those days, there were no schools or training, it was just here’s your belt and hooks and there’s the pole. Start climbing. You can probably still see the grip on that first pole I climbed. I hung on pretty tight,” Darryl remembers with a smile. “I found out that going up is easier than going down. I wasn’t sure how I was going to get down!”
After about a year, Darryl bid on a position in the Tarkio territory and he and Merylan settled into her hometown. They raised three daughters: Twilla Clark lives in Tarkio; Tracy Jones lives in Maryville; and Trudy Baker lives in Fairfax. The couple has four grandchildren and figure ball games and school functions will keep them busy in retirement.
“It’s nice to have the grandkids close by,” Darryl says.
In Darryl’s 40 year career, he’s worked with four different companies: United Telephone, Sprint, Embarq, and finally Century Link. In his first days, the telephone man was almost like a Welcome Wagon representative: One of the first to see newcomers to a community. Technology has changed much of that because now most people simply unplug their phones in one house and plug them into another one. A technician in an office reprograms the number to work at the new location and life goes on.
But when Darryl began his career, getting phone service meant a personal call from a technician.
“I’d come in with a phone under my arm, my tools, and ask ‘Where do you want the phone ma’am?’”
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Darryl shows off some of the old phone equipment he has collected over the years, including the original black rotary phone found in every home. |
Darryl witnessed phone technology progress from the open wire, 10-party lines to underground, digital technology. Phones went from the standard black, rotary dial phone Darryl carried with him to small, handheld portable devices. One thing hasn’t changed, however.
“The biggest part of the job is dealing with the weather,” Darryl explains. “Whatever it is, you’re out in it. Subzero temperatures in the winter, rain, heat in the summer.”
Over the course of 40 years, Darryl has been through numerous snow, ice and/or wind storms. He’s cleaned up after three floods at Big Lake and remembers spending three weeks working in the Lexington area cleaning up after a big ice storm. Sub-zero temperature, every day.
“I know I got the third consecutive Sunday and that was triple time,” he smiles. “That’s how I remember that.
As telephone technology changed from open wires to underground wires, outages decreased. Converting homes and businesses to the plug-and-go phone wiring we know today also cut down on the service work. Darryl’s original territory required three people to service in the beginning, but over the years attrition cut that down to one – Darryl.
“I’d been by myself for some time,” he says.
Being the “telephone man” comes with certain disadvantages. While Darryl enjoyed the interaction with people and the satisfaction that comes from solving their problems, it was difficult at times to be “on call” seemingly all the time.
“I’ve tried to train people that there’s nothing I can do until they call and fill out a work report,” he explains. “For years, though, people would ask me about their phone problems wherever they saw me. Worst I ever had was someone complained to me while we were standing in line at the funeral home for a visitation!”
As technology improved the reliability of phone service, it also helped the phone technician. Today’s technician carries a laptop in his truck, logs in to get work orders and close job reports, and can get work updates and changes easier.
“That’s one reason I stayed as long as I did,” Darryl says. “It kept getting better and I had some good working buddies and we would help each other out.”
Darryl’s territory the last several years included Tarkio, Mound City, Fairfax, Craig, Corning, Big Lake, and all the rural areas in between towns.
“Basically, I’ve been in every house in those communities,” he says. “I’ve been in attics, basements, crawl spaces, closets. Places you wouldn’t believe.”
Now that he’s retired, how does Darryl plan to spend his time? He enjoys hunting and fishing and indulges his farm roots through a side business, Lowrey’s Lawn & Garden. He does custom yard work, garden tilling, and landscaping. Merylan retired about five years ago, so the couple is looking forward to some travel with their camper and spoiling the grandchildren more. They are active in the Baptist Church and enjoy visiting Branson.
Darryl visits a local coffee shop each morning to give Merylan the house to herself for awhile.
“I heard one woman describe having a retired husband as having a piano in the kitchen,” he laughs. “I’m trying hard not to be the piano in the kitchen!”