Donnie Redman
To the family of Gary,
I am very sorry to hear of Gary's passing. For the remaining families and and friends, I and my wife will certainly pray for you. The thoughts and memories have filled my mind over the past two days and they are many. Work was my connection with Gary since 1996 when Capitol Cable & Telemedia CATV companies were merged. We worked together for 17 years in the heat, cold days and nights. We spent one of the longest nights together with many other cable employees in 1997 on an underground fiber cut in Charleston. It was cold, muddy, rain most of the evening, night and morning. We fashioned a shelter with an umbrella zip tied to a stick, pushed into the mud and covered with a piece of plastic. From around 4 o'clock in the afternoon until around noon the following day the men worked to repair the damage. The cable system was providing services to all of Charleston in Kanawha County, a 40 mile stretch on Route 3 on Coal River in Boone County, Route 60 from Charleston to Gauley Bridge and more hollows than you can imagine. Just a cable outage, no big deal except for this. The Super Bowl was scheduled for Sunday. Gary spliced fiber on his knees in the cold and in the mud until he had to have help to stand up. The men on the job that night made between ten and thirteen dollars an hour. I have shouldered with a lot of good men in my 43 year work life and not one was more dependable than Gary Ising. He aggravated me at times and I am positive that I aggravated him but we always sat our opinions and hard heads to the side to do one thing, finish the job, no matter how difficult it was. Gary was also an integral part of the startup telecommunications company, FiberNet. He worked cable and telephone for a year before FiberNet became a company ion April1,1998. Days that often exceed 24 hours were common during the first 5 to 7 years of the new company. I have often said that if a company was a table, we would be the legs. The exceptional men and women who show up for work every day are often not appreciated as they should be. I have stood on the shoulders of men and women that I knew I could depend on in a pinch. Gary was one of those people. May Almighty God comfort you the family and friends left behind. Rest in peace my brother of labor, we will see you soon.
Friday October 30, 2015 at 11:16 am