Report Problem
Translate
Worked at Louisville Water since 2020
With such a large fleet, you can probably imagine Louisville Water’s garage keeps a steady pace at the south Louisville warehouse.
“A lot of shops you’ll work in as a mechanic, you’ll work on cars, or you’ll work on trucks, or you’ll work on equipment, or you’ll work on trailers. Here, you’re expected to do it all which is a very unique thing,” said Garage Master Mechanic Doug Emily.
But the variety keeps Emily busy and fuels his passion.
“Cars and anything with an engine on it. I’ve just always enjoyed and been interested in and intrigued by recognizing and figuring out problems with mechanical-type things. Most of it’s just come real natural to me.”
What else came naturally to Emily was his decision to join the U.S. Marine Corps in the mid-1990s.
“I joined when I was 20. I experienced the world a little bit. That was right about the time Desert Storm started up.” Emily remembers, “I thought ‘I’ve always kind of wanted to do that, always really been drawn to that’, and I just went out and did it one day. It just motivated me to do it.”
His four years of service allowed him to see other parts of the world.
“(I was) In the Middle East region. Israel and Turkey were the two focus points where we went. We spent most of our time in the western Mediterranean region, Bosnia during their civil war. I was infantry. Marine infantry is the front line.”
It’s an experience that undoubtedly shaped Emily’s future.
“I gained a lot from it, developed a lot from it. I wouldn’t be the person I am now if it wasn’t for that. I’d do it again in a minute. It’s the kind of thing, specifically about the Marine Corps, it is and always will be the absolute hardest and most difficult thing you will ever think about doing,” Emily shared.
As we get ready to honor Veterans Day, he’s humble talking about his time in the military.
“Nobody asked me to do it. I volunteered to do it. I wasn’t forced to do it. I definitely don’t feel like someone owes me appreciation for it.”
Instead, his mind shifts to those who served decades before him.
“World War II veterans. It’s just unbelievable what the world experienced through that,” he said, while sharing the pride he feels seeing what Veterans Day means to others. “It’s kind of nice to see the world as a whole, for it actually to mean something.”
These days, Emily says most of his free time is spent working on the house he recently built with his wife. Together, they have five children. While he may not get outdoors quite as much as he’d like, he didn’t hesitate to share his favorite hobby.
“Hunting. If I could find a way to earn a living duck hunting, that’s what I would be doing.”
