Over the past almost 25 years, Bill Briody has been my boss, friend, mentor, and a father figure. I met Bill back in 1996 while working in the concrete lab at Froehling & Robertson. He would walk in the lab and stop to chitchat about current events and family.
In 1999, Bill offered me an opportunity to grow and have not just a job, but a career. That is when he started to train me to do something he had done for many years—radiography. In my book, it takes a special person to recognize someone they can believe in and say, “I’m going to teach you something that will change your life forever.” That’s what Bill did for me.
Now, there is an old saying that nothing worth anything comes easy—and becoming a radiographer certainly didn’t. Bill sent me to Virginia Beach to X-ray a bridge—my first time as the lead radiographer. He told me there would be a guy there and to just do whatever he says. I guess I was too excited about calling my own shots, because that went in one ear and out the other.
So, I’m up on this bridge setting up an X-ray and I think I know what I’m doing during the setup so I start taking shortcuts to make things easier. That’s when the guy down on the ground starts telling me to do things the right way because this is a Virgina Department of Transportation job. Things went downhill from there, and this guy eventually tells me to pack it up and go home. Talk about a great first day!
By the time I got back to the office, Bill already knew everything that had happened. I went into his office to tell him that I didn’t want to do this anymore. With his calm personality, Bill told me to relax—these things happen sometimes. I looked over Bill’s shoulder and there was his wedding photo, and the guy who put me in my place was Bill’s best man, Bill Via. The lesson he taught me that day was don’t take shortcuts, and listen to Bill Via.
Bill Via (center, black suit) and Bill Briody (far right, front) with other Old Dominion Section past chairmen at the section’s 2017 Winter Social. (Courtesy of Marcus Swailes.)
In closing, we should all hope to be able to pay it forward, to change someone’s life by teaching them something that will benefit them and make the world a better and safer place. And for that, I thank Bill Briody for giving me an opportunity to follow in his footsteps.
He touched a lot of lives and passed on a lot of wisdom and knowledge. I will pay it forward and pass on his knowledge so that he may still change people’s lives for the better—like he did with me—and make the world a better and safer place.
______
By Marcus Swailes, Certified Welding Inspector, Froehling & Robertson, Inc., Richmond, Virginia; MSwailes@FandR.com.