One of Tom Fairchild’s retirement gifts was a replica of a 1974 International Harvester 1066 tractor that his fellow Birkey’s Farm Store employees signed. Fairchild retired from Birkey’s on May 30 with 51 years of service. Photo by Diane Perkins
In 2016, I wrote a story about Clyde McRae, who retired from
Birkey’s
Farm
Store in Gibson City after 50 years working the parts counter. He was the longest-tenured employee in the Birkey’s organization.
Working with McRae in the parts department was Tom Fairchild. Both of them were known for making sure the customer was well taken care of, no matter how complicated their needs were. That’s just the way they worked.
Now, there is one more thing Fairchild and McRae have in common: 50 years of service to the Birkey’s organization.
Actually, Fairchild has now beaten McRae’s 50- year mark. Fairchild retired from Birkey’s on May 30 with 51 years of service, making him the longest full-time employee in the Birkey’s organization.
He said he’s stayed this long as he’s healthy and wants to work. So why leave now?
“It’s a good jumping-off stop,” he said.
He started working at FM McGrath, as Birkey’s was called then, right out of high school.
“I bought a car and a motorcycle from a guy who worked there, and I needed a job to pay for it,” he explained.
Fairchild is not only leaving his job of 51 years behind, he’s also leaving his vast knowledge base and ability to take care of the customer quickly and accurately.
“To be consistently on your game every day and to lead by example while encouraging those around you for 51 years is remarkable,” said store manager Craig Hanlin. “Just the simple act of greeting everyone that walks up with a ‘good morning, how can we help you?’ and always closing with ‘thank you for coming in’ illustrates for all of us the best of what he’s all about. People recognize all of that with the word dynasty. Well, I think Tom has been a oneman dynasty for 51 consecutive years.”
Fairchild’s cheerfulness was also mentioned as something that would be missed.
“Tom never complains or says a bad word. I’ve known people who have had more bad days in a week than Tom has had his entire life,” said Dave Gregerson, one of Fairchild’s coworkers.
Fairchild’s favorite part of the job is the people. In fact, he has customers from as far away as Tremont calling him for help. Those contacts were made when Fairchild spent time working in the Hudson and Bloomington stores for 10 years.
“I was the parts manager in Hudson,” he said. “Then the Hudson location moved to Bloomington as they had outgrown their place in Hudson. I continued there as a parts guy, not the manager. I made a lot of relationships with guys in that area who still contact me for parts.”
Fairchild eventually returned to the Gibson City store, as it was closer to home.
Many times it’s the farm wife who comes into the store to get parts while her husband is in the field. Fairchild recalled a couple of memorable meetings with them.
“A lady came to the parts counter to get parts for her husband,” he recalled. “I asked what she was picking up, and she said she didn’t know. She said I should go back in the back and get any part I wanted. She knew it would be the wrong one and her husband would tell her that. But she’d never have to come back in for parts again.”
Another time Fairchild said he had a farm wife come into the store to get parts. He gave her the parts, but before she left, she asked him if she looked OK. Being concerned that he’d say the wrong thing, he asked why. She said her husband said she should get dressed up nice when she went to town to get parts. Fairchild just laughed and told her she looked fine.
Over 175 people came to recognize Fairchild’s retirement at an open house at the Birkey’s store May 30. He had the chance to visit with a lot of his customers he’d worked with over the years. This was just one of the things his coworkers planned for him throughout the week. Earlier, they’d held a Pop Tarts buffet during their morning break since Fairchild always shared a packet of Pop Tarts for break every day with the parts manager. The next day they had M&M Mini Blizzards for break.
“I used to go to Dairy Queen here in town on Friday afternoons and get an M&M blizzard. To me, that was the only flavor they made,” he said.
Fairchild isn’t sure what he’s going to do on his first day of retirement. He’ll continue to serve with the Gibson City Fire Department as he has for 41 years. He’ll also continue to sing his beloved Southern gospel music in church.
“I know I’m going to do what Sandy (his wife) says. That’s the most important part,” he said.
Sandy thinks he’s also looking forward to taking trips to hear gospel groups, doing projects around the house, and spending time with his four grandkids. The first thing they have planned is a trip to Shipshewana, Ind., for just the two of them.
No matter what Fairchild ends up doing, there will definitely be something missing after he leaves.
“Customers have a whole lot of guys to pick from when they come in,” said salesman Greg Rueck. “They pick Tom, as they know it would be done quickly and it will be done right. That’s Tom. He has so much experience and knowledge, you can’t even write it down to explain to someone else. You can buy certain things, but you can’t buy that.”
Diane Perkins is a Sibley resident. She can be reached via email at eiu8019@gmail.com.