Central Texas Aggregates District Creates Annual Award
to Honor Mechanic’s 40 Years of Service
Master Mobile Mechanic Rufus
Braziel retired from Martin
Marietta at the end of 2017,
but not before becoming the inaugural
winner of an award bearing his name.
The Rufus Braziel Technician of the Year
Award will now be presented annually
to the district’s highest performing
mechanic.
“He started as a lube tech and ended
up becoming one of the best mechanics
in the United States,” said the district’s
Regional Vice President-General Manager
Chance Allen. “Rufus became such
an expert on the 992G wheel loader that
Caterpillar often conferenced with him
on critical issues taking place in their
business.”
Presented to Braziel on Dec. 18 during
a dinner that also celebrated his retirement
after 40 years with Martin Marietta,
the award was named as a testament to
his service, said District Mobile Fleet
Manager James Frizzell.
“We wanted to recognize our
technicians on a district level and
there’s no way to make that award
more meaningful than to name it after
Rufus,” Frizzell said. “From now on,
this honor will be presented annually
to a heavy equipment technician who
has truly excelled.”
Braziel, who officially retired on Dec.
29, said he was surprised not only to
receive the award, but to learn that it
had been named after him.
“I didn’t realize that I had helped set
such high standards. I thought I was just
doing my job,” he said. “I enjoyed being
a mechanic and I just wanted to be the
best one I could be.”
Frizzell said the trophy associated with
the Rufus Braziel Award will be updated
each year to include the name of every
new winner. Technicians who earn the
award also will be given a special patch
to sew on to their uniform.
“If the same winner wins multiple
times, well then he’ll just have a lot of
patches up on his sleeve,” Frizzell said.
“This is really about professional
development and employee retention.
These people are highly skilled mechanics
and they deserve to be recognized
as such.” ▼
From left: Mark Bernal, Glenn Brown and Esad Kasum.
James Frizzell (right) presents the Rufus Braziel Technician of the Year Award
to Rufus Braziel and his wife of 33 years, Marcela.
Sights from the Quarry
Taken at 7 a.m. on Jan. 17 at Iowa’s Ferguson
Quarry, where temperatures at the time hit
-10 degrees. “Nice of Mother Nature to provide
the Martin Marietta diamond in the middle,”
said the photographer, Sully Mine Assistant
Plant Manager Rick Burchard.
14 January/February 2018 The Conveyor | www.martinmarietta.com
If you take a photo from your worksite in the coming weeks and would like
to share it with The Conveyor, email james.orourke@martinmarietta.com.