Lynn Thomas, Construction Crew 5 Foreman, has that unique ability to absorb information about the inner workings of machinery without seeing a drawing, and relate the information to others. He worked full time with CC5 while earning his college degrees and continues to take training and development courses. Lynn is also committed to training his employees. He is a very persistent person. Just tell him that there is no way to accomplish a certain task and he will find a way. A master electrician, Lynn has many examples of these “impossible” tasks that he has accomplished through the years.

Lynn’s career started early. “My dad and uncles had a contracting business. From the time I was in junior high, if I wasn’t involved in school or church activities, I worked,” he said. He enjoyed the challenge of making motors run.

After graduating from high school in 1965, Lynn went to Sam Houston State College for two years. “I decided to quit school and go into the electrical business,” he said. He worked on St. Joseph’s Hospital and for various contractors in Houston and East Texas. When he grew tired of contracting work in 1980, he came to Physical Plant area maintenance. For the next 10 years, Lynn was instrumental in the upkeep of the Turbo Machinery Lab at Riverside. “The turbo lab runs tests for industry on impellers for pumps, motors, air velocity, all kind of things. Nearly every piece of equipment that came into the turbo lab over 10 years, I either hooked up or helped fix. When a new lab was built close to Easterwood, I disconnected all the equipment and hooked it back up,” Lynn said.

In the midst of his work at the turbo lab, Lynn became part of Bobby Rosier’s Construction Crew 5. He became supervisor in December 1998. CC5 has a crew of 10, with two openings. “I’m proud of every one of them. That shop is like a second family. I know most of them, their wives and kids. You get closer when the crew is small,” he said. How does Lynn keep small crew motivated to accomplish so much work? “I cannot motivate anybody. A person has to be self-motivated. Those guys that I’ve got working for me take pride in what they do. They want their work to be neat and orderly, and they get it done that way. And they know I’m sincere when I compliment them,” he said.

Lynn began work on an Associate of Arts degree in Management from Blinn College in 1990 and attended Sam Houston State University for his bachelor’s degree. “I’d work 8 hours a day here, drive to Huntsville, take classes until 9 o’clock, and drive home to Iola. And the next morning I’d do it all over again,” he said. In August 1998, Lynn received his Bachelor of Arts and Applied Sciences degree.

“It was tough, believe me. But I firmly believe that anybody, no matter who they are, can get an education if they want to bad enough. An education is something nobody can take away from you,” Lynn said. He applies this belief to his crew. “I’m sending them to different classes that the University offers, especially computer classes. It’s a computer world and I want my guys on top of it—painters, carpenters, everyone.”

What does Lynn find rewarding about his work? “The biggest satisfaction I get is completing a job ahead of time, especially a rush job,” he said. “When I still had my tools on, one of the biggest thrills was accomplishing something that somebody told me I couldn’t do. I’d go out of my way to get it done. That either means I like a challenge or I’m hard-headed.”

Lynn met a serious challenge last summer when a tree limb fell on him on July 24 causing two cracked vertebrae, six broken ribs, punctured lungs, a mashed adrenal gland, a broken femur, and a broken hip. Lynn stayed awake without any pain relievers for several hours before he was finally admitted to the hospital in Temple. Then he fell unconscious for two weeks. Persistent even while unconscious, he quickly began to out-breathe the breathing machine. After he awoke, he soon demanded cigarettes and soda.

Lynn convinced his doctors to let him go home a month early. He came back to work on September 6. At a checkup in mid-October, his doctor told him that he was healing quicker than anyone his age she’d ever seen. “I told her if you set your mind to it, you can do some amazing things,” he said. “I had my mind made up I wanted to get out of there. I was grateful to the Lord that it wasn’t my time, because it could have been real easily.”