John Ogle

"…he does it with a smile and an old southern boy charm."

When Consumers Produce President Alan Siger moved into his new office he jokingly noted that the setting was perfect except for a tree partially blocking his view of the Allegheny River. The next day the tree was gone! When John Ogle was asked about the tree he said, "it just fell down."

If the "can do spirit" was in the dictionary, John Ogle would be the first definition. V.P. of General Sales Tony Machi says, "John is here 22 of the 24 hours a day and the other two he's on call. He does everything for everybody here. If an employee can't get to work or their car won't start he's in their driveway starting their car."

When it comes to Consumers Produce John Ogle is the ultimate company man. "Inspect, detect, correct," is his creed as he goes about keeping Consumers Produce operating. From the refrigerated vastness of the Consumers warehouse, to the tractors and trailers that deliver the fresh produce daily, John Ogle keeps everything running.

"John Ogle is the most unique person I've ever met in my life. When I first met him I didn't know how to take him," says his boss Tom Sisko. "Whatever I need to get done, he gets it done. Whether by hook or crook, he gets it done, and he does it with a smile and an old southern boy charm."

Raised in the shadows of Churchill Downs, John left Kentucky for a military life that led him to Vietnam on three different tours of duty. His post military life took him over the road trucking. While running IBM equipment on an express route out of Boca Raton, Florida, with a stop in Pittsburgh, he mistakenly parked his truck in the wrong spot near Penn Circle.

As he came back to the truck one morning he heard, "Hey mister! Every Tuesday when I come to work this truck is in my parking spot." "It won't happen again ma'am," John replied in his best Kentucky accent. The next week he parked around the corner, reserved the woman's spot with his orange caution triangles, and then took her breakfast in her office. It wasn't long after that the express run ended for good in Pittsburgh, and John and Rene were married.

There's a twinkle in John Ogle's eye when he talks about Rene and their home in Hampton. "It's just her, the property, the dogs, and me," he says. 'The property' is their recreation. "We've been working on it ever since we moved in. We put in three decks, and a swimming pool with a deck down one side of it. We just play. You might say we're Ken and Barbie with tool kits."

Of course there is not a lot of time to work on the homestead since John spends most of his time on Railroad Street. "Seven days, I try to be here at seven o'clock," he says. "I do it because I want to, but I also do it because I feel it's necessary. If you see something that needs to be done you got to do it because you don't want progressive damage to follow. It's a game you play and the reward is money. More money for the company."

With a military man's devotion to duty John talks about "the honesty and integrity" of the people he works with at Consumers. "The professionalism and the knowledge of the people is the key. You've got hundreds of years of produce experience here. They may not know pork chops from bacon, but they know produce."

"He doesn't like people who don't work," Sisko says. But there aren't many of those folks around when John's in the room because he takes the time to get to know and take an interest in everyone. "I'm the morale officer," he says laughing, but you get the sense there is a lot of truth behind that jovial chuckle. On snowy days, "as the girls start coming in, Joe, Louie, or myself sit down in the break room and when they pull up we go out and escort them in when the surface could be bad in spots. We do the same thing on the other side for our older customers, we'll escort them in."

Many times on the weekends Rene joins John and they'll fix a late morning treat for the weekend crew. "It's like slopping hogs," he laughs. "It keeps the guys going, they look forward to it."

"I just love it, I like working, I like taking care of my end of this company, taking care of my end of the marriage, taking care of the property, doin' a lot of givin'."

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