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Worked at Louisville Water since 1998
Have you ever heard the phrase, “The days are long, but the years are short”?
It may sound cliché but somehow feels right for Louisville Water Metering Shop Leader Angela Thacker.
“I still remember my first day here like it was yesterday. I have grown and learned so much since I have been here. It’s amazing.”
Thacker just celebrated 28 years with Louisville Water in October and is the longest tenured woman in Local 1683, Louisville Water’s union.
“I never thought about it.”
In fact, Thacker is the longest serving woman in 1683’s history. Looking back to when she started in 1998, she never dreamed she would build a career here.
“I wanted a job making at least $10 an hour because that’s what I thought I was worth. But that was 28 years ago; that was good money 28 years ago,” Thacker said.
Before coming to Louisville Water, she served in the U.S. Navy for 11 years.
“I was a plane captain first and then I was an aircraft electrician. I loved it. I thought I was going to retire in the Navy until I had two little babies, and they wanted me to go on a ship for six months out of the year, and I’d be away from my babies for six months. I couldn’t do it, so I had to get out,” Thacker shared.
The job search was slow-going and then she spotted an ad in The Courier-Journal.
“[I] Wasn’t having much luck, got in the newspaper, and saw that Louisville Water Company was hiring. It had a list – construction, electrician, carpenter experience. You had to have some type of experience like that to get hired,” she said.
She put in her application and three interviews later, started her job. Thacker moved across different areas over the years and worked her way up the ladder to metering shop leader.
“In the meter shop, this is my favorite time because I have learned so much since I have been here,” Thacker said before quickly adding, “I can’t say that though because when I was out on the [field] crews, I learned all these fittings. I learned everything that was out in the yard; when I was in the warehouse, I learned all the brass, all the fittings, what they did. I guess my whole career; I’ve liked my whole career.”
When you talk about the Navy, you often automatically think ‘the water’, so it seems only fitting that Thacker ended up shifting to a career dedicated to water. And she’s never looked back.
“I love it. That’s all I can say. I feel for the water company like I felt when I was in the Navy. I’m proud to put on my uniform.”
