ALDOT Dutton District Administrator Curtis Lowe turns 80 this weekend.
Lowe joined ALDOT straight out of high school on May 26, 1964, two months before his 18th birthday.
“I graduated one night, and I went to work in the morning,” said Lowe, who started as an engineering assistant on the construction of I-59 in Attalla.
Lowe recently passed the 62 year-mark with ALDOT. He’s been the district administrator (formerly titled district engineer) at Dutton — overseeing maintenance of state routes in Jackson and DeKalb counties — since 1998. That’s longer than he originally planned his entire career at ALDOT to last.
“It was my goal to retire out with 25 years and get another job and draw my money, but I didn’t do it,” he said. “I just liked it too much, I reckon.”
62 years of service
Lowe is the second longest-tenured ALDOT employee behind Ronny Pouncey, Deputy Chief of the Maintenance Bureau, who was hired two months earlier. Pouncey is the longest-serving active employee in any state agency, and Lowe is a close runner up.
Lowe refuted rumors of a rivalry between the two.
“The joke is that I’m trying to outlast Ronny Pouncey to get the record, but I don’t really care,” Lowe said. “Me and Ronny, we had a good laugh about it.”
No plans to retire
People ask all the time when he plans to retire. His family — his wife of 55 years, Patricia, and two sons, Michael, 54, and Christopher, 50 — are among those wondering. But Lowe remains evasive.
“I don’t like to think about retirement, really, ” he said. “I like to think I’m still young, even though I can see the evidence every day that I’m not.”
Lowe said he didn’t even consider retiring after a near-fatal bout of Legionnaires’ pneumonia a few years ago.
“It never did cross my mind, really. I just wanted to get well and get back to work,” said Lowe, who was still recovering when he returned to the office. “I came back to work with my portable oxygen thing. That shows dedication — or ignorance.”
A lifelong resident of the Albertville area, Lowe enjoys travel, knife collecting, hunting, auctions, and sports.
What’s his biggest accomplishment at ALDOT? “Living through it all!” Lowe laughs, before taking on a more serious tone.
“Being where I’m at now,” he said. “I’m grateful to the people who gave me a chance to be successful, and I’m proud to have come as far as I have for an old country boy. Just like I received help from folks who had confidence in me, I try to help younger folks, if they’ll take my advice. I try to steer them the right way to be successful in their career field.”
