MAT DAWSON JR.
rigger, Ford Motor Company

Mat Dawson Jr. starts work at 7 a.m., but comes in at 6:15 to read the paper, joke with friends and enjoy a cup of coffee.

As a rigger at Ford’s Rouge Complex in Dearborn, Mich., he uses cranes, hoists and cables to move and position items throughout the plant.  He also operates forklifts to load and unload trucks.

Quitting time is 3:30 p.m., but he takes whatever overtime is available, which many days keeps him at the plant until nightfall or brings him in on weekends.

Sixty- or 70-hour work weeks are draining for anybody.  But you have to factor in that Mat is 79 years old.  Hired by Ford in 1940, he recently celebrated his 60th anniversary as a company employee.

“That’s the only way you’re going to get ahead in life.  You have to work for it,” Dawson says.

It’s an adage the Louisiana native learned from his father and mother.

“My father wasn’t a lazy man,” he says.  “He worked hard and taught me how to be independent.”

Dawson is revered around the Rouge plant for his skills, attitude, humor and experience.  Since he’s a walking encyclopedia on Ford and the Rouge plant, many consult him on the evolution of the company and its people, products and processes.

“I’ve seen many changes,” he says.  “I know this place like nobody else.”

He should.  He’s the only current factory employee who actually worked for Henry Ford.

“Mr. Ford spent a lot of time in the Rouge plant.  He loved the building,” he says.  “I never got the chance to talk with him.  When he came around, they had us cleaning up and moving around.”

Dawson hasn’t stopped.  Since he chooses to work so many hours and bypass vacations (he can’t remember the last time he took one), many would suggest he get a hobby.  Well, he has one.

Over the past decade, Dawson has donated more than $1 million to educational causes, including $440,000 to Wayne State University in Detroit, $300,000 to Louisiana State University and $230,000 to the United Negro College Fund.

Before the year ends, he will drive his 1985 Ford Escort from his one-bedroom apartment in suburban Detroit to the bank in order to arrange for more gifts — an additional $200,000 to Wayne State and an extra $100,000 to LSU.

Most of the money is donated in memory of his parents and grandparents.

“The scholarships will stand for generations and generations,” says Dawson, who left school after the ninth grade.  “There are 19 youngsters in college right now because of me.  Six have graduated.  Many more will benefit in the future.  Most of these kids are girls, single parents with two or three kids.  They are determined to make it.  The scholarships help them realize their dreams.

“I’ve owned big homes and big cars, and that doesn’t excite me anymore.  I just want people to say that I tried to help somebody.”

Dawson has no plans to stop giving, just as he has no plans to stop working.

“Retire?” he says, then laughs hard for almost 10 seconds.  “I wouldn’t know what to do with myself.  Ford is my home.  The tradesmen, electricians, pipe fitters, millwrights — they’re my family.”

This article appeared in the December 2000/January 2001 issue of MRO Today magazine.

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