The Easterday Construction family lost another member last week. Kathy Pearson succumbed to her cancer after a three year, protracted battle. She kept her spirits up until the end. She came to the visitation for my grandfather on December 7th, only a couple of weeks ago, and promised we would get together for lunch again soon. Sadly that didn’t happen.
Kathy was a fixture at Easterday Construction Co., Inc. for 38 years. KP to those of us in the office. When she retired at the end of 2014, she left a void that was impossible to fill. I gave some of her history with the company here in a previous post. That barely scratched the surface of the contributions she made.
History is a huge part of what was lost with her passing. Kathy remembered past projects nearly as well as I did in my tenure, but she also could tell me the history of projects before my time. She remembered past employees, subcontractors and suppliers, filling in gaps in things I had forgotten or never knew. She remembered phone numbers almost unerringly and served as a virtual rolodex when I would ask for a number or name that wouldn’t come to me. Long before it was “Ask Google” it was “Ask Kathy”.
Easterday Construction Co., Inc. joining Associated Builders and Contractors of Indiana on this date in 1983. Then company President Larry Berger signed ECC up as a member because we had similar goals and principals to those exposed by ABC. The organization has gone through some changes over the years, most notably the combining of ABC Indiana with ABC Kentucky, but for the most part the underlying core principals have remained the same and have remained aligned with those of Easterday Construction Co., Inc.
Over the past 25 years I have served on the regional council steering committee and have represented the regional council on the State Board of Directors and I am currently still serving on the State Board. At times I am disheartened that organizations such as these are necessary since a large part of ABC’s mission is to combat government overreach, special interest group agenda’s and just generally keeping its membership aware of the constantly changing regulations. But it is for those same reasons that Easterday Construction Co., Inc. has remained a member and we are thankful that the organization is there for us.
My father, Larry Berger, attended Rose Poly (now Rose Hulman) and was back there for a Homecoming event. He received a Blue Crest and Plaid jacket. He has been a supporter of the school and served on several committees/task forces. Dad is third from the left. One of the cool things here is that he has remained friends with Bill Perkins, just to Dad’s left, since they were fraternity brothers there. They continue to get together socially and both have winter places in suburbs of Phoenix, AZ.
Dad’s pleased that his grandson, Kameron Eisenhour, followed him to Rose and is currently a Jr. in the engineering program.
Hopefully that jacket doesn’t see a lot of wear though! Wow!
We had a retirement party for Will & Kathy Pearson on Saturday night. Kathy was with Easterday Construction for over 38 years and Will was here somewhere around 25 years. As discussed in a previous post here, they will be missed.
Almost everyone in the crew was able to come out for the party. We shared a lot of memories and everyone had a good time.
As previously discussed here, ECC employees were randomly awarded $5 for participating in Red Shirt Fridays. A matching contribution was given to Bugles Across America at the end of 2014. Please use the link if you would like to know more about the organization or contribute to them.