TUPELO, MS: After 35 years of service, Frank Keith Moses has decided to retire and not have to worry about responding to call-outs for down trees in terrible weather. He’ll be able to stay in and be nice and dry and warm.
Keith began his National Park Service (NPS) career as a seasonal life guard at Colbert Park. According to him, at peak times there were as many as 300 swimmers in the water at one time. He worked there for three summers while going to college. On weekends, he marked the Parkway’s boundary.
Keith began his permanent NPS career as a law enforcement ranger in Natchez in March 1984. After three and a half years, he moved to Tupelo as a maintenance worker and then to Cherokee as a tractor operator. His first tractor was a Massey Ferguson 235 with a 6-foot bush hog. He eventually was promoted to a tractor operator leader.
“One of the most enjoyable things about the job was the variety of things and people you encounter on the Parkway,” stated Moses. “I had the opportunity to meet a group of antique car enthusiasts from California. They were doing a 6-week tour in their cars, all of which were 1915 models or older. In the group was a Stanley Steamer that needed water, so they brought it to the shop to fill it up.”
“Another group was from England. They did a trip every other year in their Bentley’s. They shipped them over from England and were doing a 3-month tour around the U.S. Two years before, they toured Africa.” continued Moses. “You just don’t have the opportunity to meet this variety of people in most jobs.”
“Keith’s humble dedication to the National Park Service and the Parkway is greatly appreciated,” stated Superintendent Mary Risser. “When he retires, so much institutional knowledge will walk out the door with him. It is such a luxury to know that someone on the staff knows where each culvert, hole, and tree is. Although we will miss that knowledge tremendously, we wish Keith well in his retirement.”
