I have so many great memories and stories about Bob (Fergie). Perhaps one of my favourites was the Al Hoople story. Ferg hired me for an entry job in customer service and it turned out to be one of the best moves of my life for many reasons – for that I will always be thankful to Ferg. I’d like to think I earned my keep at Westinghouse Motors over the next 22 years or so but I can thank Fergie for that as well because he was a great mentor and role model throughout my career and life. I digress. Fergie took me off the shipping/receiving and warehouse floor where I had been working for a year or so. My desk was about 20 feet from Fergie’s separated by Jimmy Olmstead and a filing cabinet. Fergie was a great customer service manager – fair to all our customers but honest and he could be tough at times. On this particular day I could hear him arguing with a sales rep over a motor return that could not be found but apparently had been signed for. I finally heard Ferg say ‘Listen, I have checked with HR and there has never been an Al Hoople working at Westinghouse Motors”. Ferg I meekly said peeking around the cabinet; “ I’m Al Hoople”. Ferg said to the rep “I’ll get back to you”. To make this long story as short as possible I had to explain to my new boss that after a year in PT&CB stores where we all had similar initials I started signing my receipts and issues with a nickname I was given by an old friend – “Al Hoople” and I carried on with it in Motors receiving. I stopped using my alias from that point on and it’s probably ironic now that I am responsible for inventory record accuracy and solving these kinds of mysteries with my current job at Atlas. Frank “Al Hoople” Beattie Will miss you Ferg.