Jerry Don King

Just after he graduated from high school in 1976, Jerry Don King was on the South Pittsburg boat dock and met Lodge’s then plant superintendent, Johnny Woodard. Woodard asked him if he’d like a job at Lodge, and King said he would. “He just said, ‘bring your lunch box,‘” recalls King. The next day he was in the Lodge packing room labeling skillets. He was 18 years old, and his father, grandfather, and five uncles had all worked at Lodge before him. 

Jerry Don moved on to other jobs over the years, spending seven years working on the cupola, six or seven years on the Disamatic (the machine that makes the sand molds), and several in the finishing department as a lead utility, the role he is in today. “It’s been a real learning experience,” King says. “I never dreamed I’d be here this long. I’ve seen it come from a struggling company to a big, major business. Of course, the thing that kept them going is making it top quality.” King says his 38 years at Lodge have been good ones. “I’ve really enjoyed the years I’ve been here,” he says. “I’ve made a lot of friends and stayed busy.”

Thanks for all your hard work, Jerry Don King!