|
|
|
|
UTSA Honors Longtime Employees Upon Retirement UTSA’s first employee and three other dedicated staff members will be retiring this week. Collectively they have devoted 106 years of experience to the university. Juan Flores, Al Garcia, John Jones and Wallace Kirk will be honored at a reception 2 p.m. Monday in the University Room of the Business Building. Flores would periodically check the progress at the 1604 Campus, which at the time was just a wooded area in brush country. One of Flores’ many responsibilities was to chauffeur Templeton to Austin to attend the legislative sessions. Since those early days Flores has seen the university grow from the Koger Center on 410 to the 1604 and Downtown campuses. Flores’ responsibilities also grew, serving 23 years in the printing office and then moving to the Physical Plant to work as the Facilities Coordinator. Flores and his wife will take over his late father’s ranch near Laredo. "I will miss the close relationships that I've developed with the university community throughout the years."
Jones says when he first started, he and Ruben Ortega, who still works in the mailroom, were processing about 300 pieces of mail a day. Now, over 3,000 pieces pass through their hands each day. "The mailroom staff has remained small, but they continue to get the job done for the university," Jones said. "I’m going to miss a lot of good people that work here at UTSA; I made a lot of good friends." Jones' work will just begin when he leaves UTSA. He is going into business with a friend marketing chemicals to Ecuador.
Kirk joined UTSA as a storage clerk in the receiving department. One of his additional duties was driving a bus for students taking field trips. Kirk enjoyed the trips because of the interactions with the students and the knowledge he gained about the subject matter. "I had a chance to go to Camp Lajitas and see dinosaur tracks with Professor Oscar Van Auken," Kirk said. Kirk also had a chance to visit Palmetto State Park and the Lubbock science fair during those early years. For the last seven years he has been the Warehouse Manager. Upon leaving UTSA, Kirk intends to spend more time with his family and help out with his eastside church.
When Garcia started, the campus was about half the size it is today and with many construction projects underway , the maintenance staff was quite a bit larger. Many of the workers were hired on a contingency basis meaning they would have a job as long as there was work to be done. Eventually many were let go, but Garcia stuck it out and was promoted to superintendent in 1996. Garcia said he made a lot of great friends whom he will miss, "I worked in a positive environment, and I felt I was doing something to keep the university going, spit-shined and polished to make it look its best." He plans to relax, enjoy his time off and then travel to Spain with his family in September where his wife will participate in a teaching abroad program. Send
your comments and items to: UTSAToday@utsa.edu.
|
Flores
was the first employee hired at UTSA in April of 1970. At the time,
he and President Arleigh Templeton were the only occupants of UTSA’s
downtown office located in Hemisfair Plaza.
John
Jones has seen UTSA evolve over the years having spent 29 years as the
university’s first mail room supervisor.
Some
might say 23 is a lucky number for Wallace Kirk, first he put in 23
years with the Air Force, this week, he will complete 23 years of service
at UTSA.
Construction
and Maintenance Superintendent Al Garcia has devoted 23 years of service
to UTSA. Garcia started in March of 1978 as a maintenance worker, then
quickly worked his way up to become an electrician.