Ronny Pouncey knows a lot about maps. He first worked for the Alabama Department of Transportation in 1964.
“I saw the ad in the Montgomery Advertiser for an engineering helper and thought it looked interesting. “I applied for it and did really well on it,” Pouncey said.
He said that he got a job in the mapping area and now makes $186 a month.
He has had different jobs over the years, but the plans are always there.
“I grew up with maps.” “And I find them interesting,” he said. “That’s something I hear a lot. “I need a map.” “GPS led me astray.”
In sixty years, a lot has changed.
“I remember when I first started, say, in the traffic section, they would take sheets of paper and go to places where the traffic counts were kept. They would then get a metal chair and sit outside the road to write down the number of cars and trucks,” he said.
He’s still useful after sixty years.
“It clearly takes a unique mix of good health and determination,” said John Cooper, director of the Alabama Department of Transportation. He has been able to “float” from one generation to the next, making himself useful and serving as a guide for each group as they came through.
He has been with the company for 60 years. The person who knows the map doesn’t plan to leave any time soon.
I just like it. That’s what I do and the people. Pouncey said, “Kind of like my life.”
Cobb said, “We’ll keep him as long as he’ll stay.”
There will come a time when you have to leave.
Pouncey said, “I tell people that if I wake up in the morning and think I need to retire, I probably will.”
He doesn’t have everything planned out just yet, but it’s been a wild ride.
