On April 4^th, 2017, Paul Bricker passed away suddenly and unexpectedly in his home. The Williston community mourns this loss and continues to feel his impact on our campus every day. This article was written in November 2016 about his time at Williston. 

Working behind the scenes at Williston can be tough, but Mr. Bricker has been working for Physical Plant at Williston for 25 years, and he’s loved every second of it. Mr. Bricker is going from full time to part time this year which could have a big impact on the department and their responsibilities.

Originally hired as an outside contractor, Bricker decided to stay because, “I got to know the people and the place and really enjoyed myself.”

In February of 1992, Bricker was hired full time. His duties include being the maintenance manager on campus, which means that he manages and hires plumbers, contractors, and electricians.

One of the highlights of Mr. Bricker’s career is the work-order system at Williston. Williston has been using it for 20 years, Bricker did all the programming and development of it. “I kind of feel like I took the Physical Plant office from the 18^th century to the 21^st century.”

Another way Bricker has accelerated Williston into modernity is through key-card locks. The locks are placed on almost every dorm on campus, and seem like a normal feature nowadays, but 10 years ago they were brand new.

“We were slow getting on board because the technology wasn’t good at the time. We like being able to lock the dormitories during the day,” Bricker says about the security system. “A higher level security in the buildings is helpful, so we’ve slowly gained momentum with a full school change.”

Recently, the Williston Security team and the Physical Plant staff collaborated on efforts to add key-card locks to the gym. This change has been effective and helpful for the staff, even though it took a lot of work to add the locks.

Mr. Bricker told The Willistonian, “The gym is a difficult building to get around because of the concrete and block. We have to go through the ceiling and doors and snake wires through. It’s hard work, but necessary to add more safety to a building that’s already so popular.”

Mr. Conroy, the Athletic Director at Williston, says “The Athletic Department is in support of the new card system at the Athletic Center. First and foremost, it is a safety measure that provides a level of security to our community. Like any change, it will take some time to get used to the card access system but we know that it is an important initiative for our community.”

Starting in 2017, Mr. Bricker will move from full time work to part time. His hobbies include golf and playing guitar and piano —he has eight guitars and “a couple” pianos, as well as an electric drum set. Bricker says he is looking forward to “having more time for myself,” to explore his hobbies outside of working.

Mr. Bricker does not think that going from full time to part time will be difficult for him, however he thinks retiring is going to be sad.

“When I retire completely, that will be a harder time. A lot of the social interaction that I have is within the school and the people that I work with.”

Ms. O’Connor, Williston’s Head of Security and a close friend of Bricker says, “Take a look around campus and you will see Mr. Bricker’s ‘mark’ just about everywhere. If it has ever had to be repaired, locked, constructed, removed, altered…Mr. Bricker has had something to do with it. In my short tenure here at Williston it is obvious that Paul has been an integral part of Physical Plant, and this community.”

Even going from full time to part time, the Williston community is going to feel Mr. Bricker’s absence. He put it quite simply when he said, “I love the people and I love the work, so it’s all good.”