Joe McGill keeps Whitehouse chamber on track
FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS
BY SUZANNE LOUDAMY Staff writer

Since retiring from the railroad, Joe McGill stays busy with community work and family. He is active with the chamber and serves as a director.

If a big job needs to get done, get a busy person to do it. That is a phrase that many people smile about, but it is the absolute truth. Case in point, Joe McGill.

The business community of Whitehouse and many points north, south, east and west have become quite familiar with his smiling face. McGill is the busy man who has literally gone door-to-door encouraging businesses and individuals to become members of the Whitehouse Area Chamber of Commerce. And because of his diligence and dedication, the chamber has seen increased membership this year.

"God tells us to plant the seed," McGill said "He will take care of rest. We just have to make the effort."

He said he approaches his work for the chamber the same way.

"I understand that right now things are tight for everyone and maybe they just can't afford to spend the money to join," McGill said. "But I plant the seed and go back and visit with them and encourage them along. We can all use the encouragement."

That's the type of fiber of which McGill is made. He is that solid wood that makes for a solid base.

That foundation is a carry-over from his raising. He grew up a large Christian family in Anderson, near Navasota where he worked the farm.

He reminisced about having a water well on their place growing up. McGill said there would be years when rain was sparse and others would be in need of water. Their well could handle the load. Possibly the next year his father would need seed and a person who had been supplied with water would return the favor and provide him with seed.

"It was just that way when I was growing up," McGill said. "We met each other's needs as neighbors."

He met his wife Cynthia in Oakland, Calif. just after returning from Vietnam. McGill served in the Army. They married in 1973. Through the years they lived in such places as Montreal, Detroit, Chicago, but returned to Texas. Houston was his home office for a while until Cynthia found the city of Whitehouse and they decided to call it home.

Both being from large families, the McGills knew what it was like to take care of children.

Not only did they have six of their own to care for but took in family member's children off and on.

"Sometimes kids just get off track and need a place to be where they can start over," McGill said. "We give them a stable place to live, rules to live by and most of them turned out OK."

They have also played a vital role as foster parents to several children over the past 18 years.

"Everyone deserves a chance to succeed," McGill said. "We just do what we can to give them that chance."

McGill has held many different jobs over the years, but he spent the majority of his career with the railroad. He said his 27 year job has carried many names like Southern Pacific, Cotton Belt and so on, but it was always just the railroad to him. He began with a walk-on job, survived lay-offs more than once and worked his way up the management ladder.

After years of dedication and hard work, McGill came to work in purchasing. He expected no less from his vendors than was expected of him. Quality products were all he would consider as good enough for his company.

McGill was tough on his suppliers. He knew that the safety of the trains was of the utmost importance and that giving in on the quality of the products that made the tracks safe and sound was not worth saving a few dollars. It was his job to make the best purchase he could for the company, but safety was high on the list of priorities.

Everything that McGill has done in his life has been with that type of premise; whether it's work, family or community. If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right.

"I give God every bit of the credit," McGill said. "You don't give up what you stand for. Sometimes you don't move as fast as you'd like, but you still get there. It's always worked for me."

McGill fills his days volunteering where he is needed most. Some days that is with the chamber; others it might be folding newsletters with the Whitehouse High PTSA. Whatever he does, he goes after it with gusto.

"Mr. McGill's enthusiasm for the projects of the Whitehouse Chamber of Commerce is unparalleled. His 'can do attitude' is really, 'can do NOW, I'll meet you in ten minutes,'" said Mike Peterson, chamber president. "His single-handed new member recruitment efforts have substantially added to the membership rolls of the chamber. If at any time I need someone to help on any type of project I know I can count of Joe McGill."

McGill says his best time is spent with his family. He still has two children in school and a granddaughter he adores. He was quite pleased to brag on her first grade reading skills as she read to him from Psalm 91. This is a chapter of the Bible they read to begin each day. McGill called this the "protection chapter."

From the farm to the railroad, from the big city to Whitehouse, Joe McGill has traveled many roads and rails, but wherever he has gone, whatever he has done, he has done the best job he could.

"That's all God asks of us," McGill said, "to do our best for Him and for others."