{"id":54735,"date":"2018-11-27T15:22:45","date_gmt":"2018-11-27T20:22:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=54735"},"modified":"2018-11-27T15:22:45","modified_gmt":"2018-11-27T20:22:45","slug":"brock-storekeeper-retiring-after-50-years-of-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2018\/11\/brock-storekeeper-retiring-after-50-years-of-service\/","title":{"rendered":"Brock storekeeper retiring after 50 years of service"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Peter Barclay first started working at Brock, the University was a mere four years old. Its inaugural president, James Gibson, was still in office and the Thistle Complex was under construction.<\/p>\n

After 50 years as a storekeeper, Barclay is hanging up his lab coat and retiring at the end of the month, making him the longest-serving, ongoing employee in the history of the University.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was planning on retiring a couple of years ago but my friends talked me into staying,\u201d he said. \u201cThey knew that no staff member had made it to 50 years. I can\u2019t believe five decades has come and gone. It went by fast.\u201d<\/p>\n

Barclay\u2019s first role with the University began on Nov. 18, 1968. He was hired to work under Bernie Clermont as an assistant storekeeper in the Department of Chemistry. Barclay and several other employees worked at what was then called the Glenridge or lower campus in the refurbished refrigerator factory that was once the University\u2019s first home.<\/p>\n

In 1970, when Clermont was promoted to work as a buyer in the Purchasing Department, Barclay was offered the head storekeeper position, but he was reluctant to take it. With only 18 months of training, he felt he didn\u2019t have enough experience to \u201cdo the job right,\u201d he said. Another person was hired to replace Barclay\u2019s supervisor.<\/p>\n

\u201cI ended up explaining a lot of things to him,\u201d said Barclay. \u201cI realized, maybe I should have taken the job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Call it fate or just good timing; in the end it worked out fine. A couple of months later, Barclay was granted an internal transfer to work as a senior storekeeper in the Geology Department (now Earth Sciences), a position Barclay has held ever since.<\/p>\n

Barclay\u2019s current manager, Frank Fueten, Chair of the Department of Earth Sciences, said it\u2019s difficult to imagine the department without Barclay.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will take some time before the reality of life without Pete sinks in,\u201d said Fueten. \u201cMost of his tasks will have to be distributed to others, but nobody will be able to fill his shoes.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Senior Storekeeper, Barclay is responsible for managing and ordering lab supplies as well as field and microscope equipment such as test tubes and centrifuges. Fueten said countless other duties have arisen over the years, often randomly, like bearing the burden of key master, as well as managing the department\u2019s purchases and accounts.<\/p>\n

\u201cPete has been an absolute constant in our department. Much like a physical constant in nature, he has seemingly always been here,\u201d said Fueten. \u201cEmployees have come to know the answer to many problems at work as \u2018go see Pete\u2019 \u2014\u00a0he always knew the answer or what action was needed. With his departure, the department will also lose the institutional memory many of us have come to depend on.\u201d<\/p>\n

During his time at Brock, Barclay was involved with faculty and staff clubs in hockey, curling and summer rowing. He still recalls the intense winter exercise program the rowers practised, which included running up and down the stairs of Schmon Tower five times in a row.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can appreciate what people have to go through when the fire alarms go off in the tower,\u201d he said. \u201cBut for us, going down the stairs was our rest time to cool down our muscles.\u201d<\/p>\n

Barclay also trained in the University\u2019s gymnasium. It\u2019s where, in 1975, he first struck up a conversation with Nancy Fawdry (BPhEd \u201976, BEd \u201977), a fourth-year Physical Education student and captain of the varsity women\u2019s volleyball team.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Barclay passes by this 1976 graduation photo of his late wife Nancy Barclay (nee Fawdry) on his lunchtime walks.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI actually first met her at a Geology party,\u201d he said. \u201cOne of my colleagues brought her as his date. They eventually broke up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nancy went on to graduate from the Physical Education program and she and Barclay married. The next year she attended Brock\u2019s Teachers\u2019 College and became an elementary school teacher who worked to integrate children with special needs into classrooms.<\/p>\n

After nearly 40 years of teaching and marriage, Nancy passed away in 2016.<\/p>\n

Barclay\u2019s memory of his wife lives on in the halls of Thistle Corridor, where her graduation composite photo still hangs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI walk by her every day and stop to look at her. She is forever young in that photo and I was blessed to share 40 years with her,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Although Barclay\u2019s last day of work is Friday, Nov. 30, he plans to return to the University on Monday, Dec. 10 to attend the annual President\u2019s Holiday Celebration<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In lieu of a retirement party or gifts, Barclay is requesting that employees consider donating to the Jaan Terasmae Memorial Award<\/a>, a student award named after Barclay\u2019s first manager, who was Chair of the Department of Geology.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll miss this place, I really will,\u201d said Barclay. \u201cMy favourite time of year is the fall when the students return to classes. It\u2019s interesting how alive the University becomes.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his retirement, Barclay hopes to spend more time with his cockapoos, Buddy and Holly, and plans to travel with his children, Andrew Barclay (BA \u201908) and Lindsay Richardson (BA \u201914). Before heading to bucket list locations Scotland, Australia and New Zealand, he wants to visit friends in Florida in the new year.<\/p>\n

He also expects to continue cruising with his 1964 Corvette, which has made appearances at the University\u2019s 40th and 50th anniversaries.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I know the age of my car, I know the age of the University, and vice-versa,\u201d said Barclay.<\/p>\n

Barclay usually cruises during the week and picks a show on the weekend.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow that I don\u2019t have to rush home from work, I can get the better parking spots at the shows,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

But before Barclay checks off any of these items, he\u2019s going to do something many working people cannot do.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to sleep in for a while,\u201d he laughed.<\/p>\n\n\t