100 years of GM family
Since the Lansing Delta plant is built on heritage, I thought I would share a little heritage with you all prior to my retirement.
In 1912 my great grandfather, Burt Adams, hired into Olds Motor Works in Lansing, Michigan as a Tool Maker. At that time he was 44 years old and making 72 cents an hour. By 1926, he was making 90 cents an hour, but 6 years later his pay had been reduced to 67 cents an hour; the depression had hit.
There is a picture in the paint shops entrance of 4 men riding in an 1897 Curved Dash Olds. The gentleman on the left with the bowler cap is Burt Adams. Burt had 5 sons and he was able to get all of his son’s jobs at Olds; this included my grandfather - Robert Adams. Nepotism was a big part of Oldsmobile’s success back then. My grandfather, who hired in around the depression, graduated in Oldsmobile’s first apprentice class in 1929 as a tool designer. The boys, as my Granddad called them, stayed with Olds until 1954 when they left to start a Tool & Die shop on the corner of Washington & Saginaw.
My father who also was active in Oldsmobile’s history graduated from Michigan State with an engineering degree and used it to provide tools & stamping dies, he retired from the business in 1990. I hired in to Oldsmobile in 1976 with an engineering degree from Western Michigan. My first job was in plant layout. In that year, Olds sold a million cars and the Rocket V8 was king. The engine line was running at 250 jobs an hour!
My career is ending in November, but the good news is my daughter Brooke, the fifth generation, is also an engineer with a degree from Michigan Tech. She is working for GM’s Powertrain division. Burt Adams is proud that a great-great grand daughter is carrying on the tradition.
It’s been wonderful working with all of you. I hope GM can continue to support you the way it has supported my family.
Submitted by Russ Adams
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