Social - August 2003

Decades of working leave lasting memories

By DIANE TURBYFILL, LTN Staff Writer

Leroy Magness learned a long time ago to work for what you get and hold on to what you’ve got.

“It was pretty tough. I came up during the Depression,” he says. “Several times we didn’t know if we’d be able to eat.”

The slender 83-year-old remembers the lessons he learned decades ago.

At the ripe age of 8, Leroy got a job at Frazier’s Grocery Store. He would work at the store before and after school and on Saturdays, taking home $1 a week.

Things were looking up when he later took a job at Lincoln Laundry making 10 cents an hour. And his wages further improved in 1934 when he made $5 a week at Lincoln Lithia Inn. Leroy grins when he remembers the generous banker who would tip him a dollar a day.

“When the end of the season came, I had enough money to buy my clothes for the winter.”

Leroy continued to run the gamut of careers and went to work at Lincoln Billiard Parlor, cleaning up and shining shoes.

He later provided care for a handicapped man. The job had its advantages.

“He finally let me take his car home at night,” Leroy says.

In 1938 Leroy accepted a job at Reeves Gamble Hospital, where he worked from 1938 to 1952. Leroy and his wife, Prue, worked for the doctor for years.

Leroy says he and his wife’s years working for Gamble equal more than 100.

When the hospital closed and Gamble went into the service, Leroy cared for his home.

Leroy soon moved on to Sherwood Furniture then Cronlands Lumber Yard.

“I got along just fine as long as it was warm,” he says.

But the winters took their toll on Leroy, who didn’t like the chilly weather. Management had to move Leroy inside to keep him on board. He stayed at Cronlands until he was offered a job at the ABC store.

But Leroy had his doubts about accepting the offer.

“I was an officer at the church, and I didn’t know how that would look.”

Leroy says a preacher friend advised him, “You being there ain’t going to keep anyone from buying whiskey.”

Leroy worked at the ABC store full-time for 20 years and part-time for 11. He then retired.

Despite Leroy’s long résumé, he does not feel he has been a job jumper.

“I didn’t change jobs, only when I had to,” he says.

He now spends most of his days at his Lincolnton home with his wife. He reads newspapers and watches TV.

Even in retirement, Leroy is considered a local historian by many. Members of his church, Moore’s Chapel AME Zion, often call to research facts.

“I can remember things,” he says. “I’ve been around, and I’ve been watching things pretty good.”

Leroy remembers when three black grocery stores were open on Main Street.

He remembers passing up buying a house for $900.

He can still see his great-grandfather rolling mail in a wheelbarrow.

He talks about attending school at Oaklawn and tells the tales of Bible school at the Presbyterian church.

He remembers taking a 10-day trip up north to Canada, Michigan, New York and Illinois.

He has seen many family members and friends live and die and is glad to still be around to reminisce.

“I’m the middle kid, the puniest of the bunch … I’m the only one still around,” he says with a smile.

© 2001 Lincoln Times-News  

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