Employee celebrates 50th year with G&S Gas

Published 1:34 pm Monday, October 13, 2014

Back when Lyndon B. Johnson was president, Beetlemania was sweeping the United States and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. became the youngest person to win a Nobel Peace Prize, one quiet man in Milledgeville began a job that would span the next 50 years.

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Cecil Lewis celebrates his 50th anniversary with G&S Gas today, Oct. 4. Hired in 1964, only a year after the business opened, Lewis was the first full-time employee the business hired.

“Anybody in Milledgeville will tell you Cecil is the go-to guy when you need something fixed,” said Larry Garrett, owner of G&S Gas.

G&S Gas is a propane business first opened in Milledgeville by co-owners Raleigh Garrett, Ray Garrett and Tommy Simmons. The business opened at its current location at 507 S. Wayne St. and hasn’t moved since.

Because of Lewis’ longstanding reputation of honesty and hard work within the community, he knows many of the customers by name and is often specifically requested by customers to fix or repair an item.

Needless to say, over the past 50 years the propane industry has seen a lot of changes, but Lewis has kept up with them all.

“He’s been to all the service schools and training there is,” Garrett said. “He pretty much trained everybody here.”

That everybody includes Garrett himself, who says he can remember Lewis picking him up from kindergarten on occasion. Garrett’s father and Lewis were good friends.

“My father died in 1982,” Garrett said, “and Cecil’s been like a father to me all these years.”

With the business entering its 51st year and the original owners all having passed away, Garrett said Lewis is the glue that’s been holding the company together.

“All of our employees are special, but Cecil is a lot of the reason the company’s as special as it is,” Garrett said.

Garrett has a lot of high praise for Lewis and is quick to speak highly of Lewis’ abilities as a serviceman.

“If somebody landed an F-16 jet on South Wayne, Cecil could go out there with a screwdriver and a pair of pliers and fix it,” Garrett said.

Garrett also said Lewis has held most positions within the company, and certainly in the propane industry.

“He’s done everything anybody can do in this industry. When the serious problems come up, Cecil Lewis is the one we want to take a look at it,” Garrett said.

Even with 50 years under his belt, Lewis shows no sign of slowing down or retiring. He still commutes from his home in Deepstep to Milledgeville for work every day, an approximately 20-minute drive.

“He’s probably the most straightforward and honest person I’ve ever met,” Garrett said. “He enjoys what he does. Obviously he does because he’s been here 50 years.”

To congratulate Lewis on his 50 years of service, customers are welcome to visit the business to thank him personally. Lewis or one of the other two servicemen, Ricky Schneider and Darryl Simmons, are always more than willing to fix a product. With a man of 50 years’ experience to rely on, it is certain that G&S Gas customers can have any machine repaired.