Five long-time employees of Zippo Manufacturing Co. with more than 161 total years of experience will be retiring from the company.
Linda Meabon began working at Zippo just weeks after graduating high school in 1967. She began as a customer service file clerk, was later promoted to a customer service manager, and in 1996 became the first Zippo historian. Since then, she has overseen the development of the Zippo and Blaisdell family archives and has curated exhibits at the Zippo/Case Museum.
The thing she’ll miss most is watching the constant growth and challenges of day-to-day work.
She retired officially on Jan. 1 with 48 years of service. In her retirement, she looks forward to boating and traveling in addition to spending more time with her three children, five grandchildren, and long-time partner, Jay.
Ralph Pearce originally began at Zippo in the warehouse before being drafted into the Vietnam War. He returned to Zippo after his discharge in October of 1978 as a material handler in the fuel plant. He became the group leader and then fuel plant supervisor, which remained his title for the past 22 years of his 37 years of service.
His favorite part of working for Zippo was the generosity and compassion shown by the owners as well as upper management. His greatest memory is being acknowledged by name by Mr. Blaisdell himself back in 1970 while getting out of his car in the parking lot. The thing he will miss most is the people.
In his retirement, he will spend time with his high school sweetheart and wife, Susie. He also plans to spend time wood carving, gardening, reading, walking, and just relaxing. In addition, he plans to continue going on his annual fishing trip to Canada.
After 44 years of service at Zippo, Anne Campogiani now has much more time free for traveling, reading, and spending time with her family. She retired on Jan. 1 from her position as buyer, though she also spent time at Zippo as receptionist, sales associate, and expeditor since being hired in 1971.
Like so many who retire from Zippo, her favorite thing about the company is how well the employees are treated. In fact, her favorite memory is when Mr. Blaisdell himself used to visit each department.
She doesn’t have any specific plans for her retirement, but is welcomed home by her husband, Steven, in addition to two children and four grandchildren.
William “Bill” Edgar retired from Zippo after 32 years of service. Since relocating from the Pittsburgh area in 1983, he spent the length of his Zippo career as credit manager.
He noted the company is a very special one and the thing he’ll miss most is the people and how good they are to work with.
In his retirement, he will spend time with his wife, Kathi, their three children, and three grandchildren. He also plans to spend time geocaching, traveling in his RV, and doing amateur radio.
Betsy Abrams retired from her position as buffing department operator at Zippo as of Feb. 1. During her Zippo career, she also worked in the Blu and Flint & Box departments.
Her favorite part about working for Zippo is how well the employees are treated. She also commented that it’s truly a great place to work.
She has three children and eight grandchildren. In her free time, she enjoys bingo, reading, and going to the casino. Now that she’s retired, she plans to travel to Texas and California as well as spend more time with her family.
