I produced this photo story in response to a call for stories from the 1 in 6 by 2030 project.

“1 in 6 by 2030 is a global, collaborative project that brings together photographers from around the world to put a human face on one of the most important ‘statistics’ of our time — the fact that by the year 2030, 1 in 6 people in the world will be over the age of 60.”
https://www.1in6by2030.com/about-the-project

“Work or Retire?” is the second of seven story prompts requested by the 1 in 6 by 2030 project, which will offer different prompts every year through 2030.

See the live photo story at https://www.1in6by2030.com/stories/from-humble-beginnings!

Jerry Burrow: From Humble Beginnings

Texas, United States
by Stiles Watson

*Jerry Burrow stands next to a photo of himself, and other photos from his service in the Air Force.*

In the early 40’s, Jerry Burrow was born in Jonesboro, Arkansas.

“We were definitely in the poor section of town. Our house did have running water, but no indoor bathroom.”

But thanks to family friends, their life was about to change.

“They said there's lots of jobs out here. And so, we packed up the 49 Buick and a trailer, and we headed to California.”

“My lifestyle changed quite a bit. We bought the typical tract house with showers, kitchen, and my own bedroom. A lot more modern.”

Throughout Jerry’s schooling, he took all the hands-on classes he could, like auto shop, metal work, and drafting. “I liked mechanical stuff.” But after graduating high school, the only job he could find, he hated, so he decided to join the Air Force. “I went down and took the test. And sure enough, would you believe it? I scored high in mechanics.”

“One of the things that I realized when I was in the Air Force, how blessed I was to have that job.”

“I loved the flight line environment, and I wanted to be associated with aircraft and particularly aircraft maintenance.”

A model of the Douglas C-124 Globemaste. While in the Air Force, the C-124 was the primary aircraft Jerry worked on. Jerry also performed maintenance on C-118 Liftmaster and C-121 Constellation aircraft.

*Photos of Jerry Burrow, and other family members who served in the US Military. From left to right: Jerry (Air Force), Manul (Jerry’s Father, Navy), and Gaylon (Jerry’s brother, Air Force).*

*Jerry's military dog tags, service ribbons, and lapel pins from his service in the Air Force. For many years these were thought to be lost until they were recently discovered in storage.*

After leaving the Air Force, and getting his A&P license, Jerry got a job as an instructor with Texas International Airlines who later acquired Continental Airlines. In 2002, after a successful 42-year career, Jerry decided to retire.

Why did you retire?

“It was time. I had enjoyed it, and all of a sudden, I just went, ‘I'm doing the same thing.’ I mean, I've got a bigger staff, and I was a Director, and had to go to a lot more meetings. The routine of just doing the same thing, dealing with the people that a lot of times, I didn't particularly want to deal with, and I thought it'd be really nice just to not do this anymore. I was 61 years old, we were financially fit. So, [my wife, Maggie and I] said, ‘Let’s go ahead and do the retirement.’ There wasn’t anything coming up that I knew of that I didn't want to be involved in. I was just doing the same stuff that I've been doing for several years, and I didn't want to do it anymore. It was just the right time. If I had retired the day before, I would have regretted it. If I'd retired the day after I would have regretted it. It was the perfect day for me to walk out. I never looked back. So, it was a pretty clean break.”

After retirement

But retiring didn’t mean being idle. Jerry had several part-time jobs including working for a moving company where he loaded and drove moving trucks all over the US, worked in a thrift store, and was even a greeter and hearse driver for a funeral home. Hobbies have also kept him busy, including fishing and golf. But the hobby that keeps Jerry occupied is woodworking in his workshop where he loves repairing and refinishing furniture.

*Jerry shopping for washers at the local Home Depot. Reclaimed and broken furniture often come with missing hardware.*

The far wall of Jerry’s garage workshop where he repairs furniture. Since Jerry self-funds all of his repair jobs, he keeps every scrap of wood he can get his hands on, often collecting what others throw away.

Jerry uses a leaf blower to quickly cleanup his garage workshop after creating a good deal of saw dust. In the background is a child’s white and purple chest of drawers Jerry rescued from the trash and rebuilt. It is now waiting for a new home.

In addition to spending his time on woodworking projects, Jerry operates a small online business selling airline and military memorabilia. Jerry and his wife Maggie are also proud members of First Baptist Church, Plano, Tx, where they attend regularly.