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Worked at Louisville Water since 2000
Louisville Water Dispatcher Danny Embry is embarking on his last winter with the company. He will retire in early 2025, just a few months shy of accomplishing 25 years at Louisville Water. Some of you may be wondering how it’s possible you don’t know Danny if he’s worked here this many years.
“I get asked that all the time. ‘How long have you been here? I haven’t met you. Why haven’t I met you’?” Embry joked.
The answer is quite simple, Embry is working while most of us are sleeping.
“I’ve been on this shift 17 years of my 24 years. It gets quiet, but you get used to it,” Embry said about working third shift. “I usually have one night crew, a couple emergency guys, and the on-call supervisor.”
Embry answers the “after hours” calls when customer service is closed. As you can imagine, Embry has been on the receiving end of more than a few interesting conversations.
“Some people have their nights and days mixed up. I get questions like ‘Are you open right now? Can I bring my payment over and get my water turned back on?’. This is 2:30, three o’clock in the morning.”
Sometimes, they’re not even in the right area code.
“I get a lot of wrong number calls from Lewisville, Texas.”
But he takes it all in stride.
“We’re 24/7. You gotta keep the water flowing. I like helping customers. I can give them a lot of advice on what to do when they have a leak, how to turn their water off inside if they have the means to do so; I just like helping the customers.”
Embry landed at Louisville Water following a 20-year stint in the military.
“I was in the Air Force as an aircraft mechanic. I worked on landing gear, flight controls, and I retrained over the F-15s, F-16s. I was a crew chief, went all around the world.”
From Indiana to Alaska to Iceland and Turkey, Embry earned two medals during his time in the Air Force.
“I was in (the Air Force) during Desert Storm and Desert Shield. My jets were involved. Some of my jets got a little damage. We never lost one.”
He is grateful for the experience and lessons he learned.
“I’m very proud of our country and I did my duty. I feel honored to serve. It taught me a lot of responsibility. It taught me how to grow up, be a team player.”
Now, it’s time for Embry’s next chapter- retirement.
“I’ve never been one to move around jobs. It’s going to be a culture shock for me. I’ve worked my whole life. It’s time to take a break, go on vacation. Me and my wife want to go overseas. She wants to see Europe, she’s never been.”
All that’s standing between him and this next season of life, is one final winter juggling Louisville Water crews and customer calls.
“I’m crossing my fingers that this is a good last one. I’m not going to jinx it.”
