U of A post Ted

Ted Germaine

At the beginning of 1999, Surgical Supervisor Ted Germaine faced two choices about retirement. According to him, the government said: "Well, you have a choice - you can either retire the day before your 65th birthday or the last day of the month in which your birthday falls. So, being an ornery cuss, I said 'Damn well, I'll stay every last day I can.'" At the end of March, Germaine will retire from the U of A after almost 43 years of service.

Germaine works at the Surgical-Medical Research Institute (SMRI) and has the distinction of being the second-longest serving U of A employee (James Liddell of Physical Plant retired last year after 45 years). While Germaine is retiring at the end of this month, he has no intention of not working.

"I have the philosophy that the human being isn't made to just sit around and watch television and drink beer. I suppose it comes from growing up on the farm and working all the time," he says. Germaine plans to spend more time with his family, in addition to working on renovations to the house on his recently acquired 40-acre property near Alder Flats. He says he will start with the 40 acres of fence that need mending.

In December 1956, Germaine came to the university's McEachern Cancer Research Laboratory after a couple of years working on the oil rigs. His first day was spent cleaning up after a surgery. Germaine learned things on the job from the ground up, taking courses as he went along. He first worked for Dr. John Callaghan who performed Canada's first open-heart surgery. Germaine was the first non-academic surgical technician and at one time was responsible for a technical surgical staff of 16.

Germaine is responsible for all the supplies and ensures the equipment runs smoothly during surgery. With more than 42 years of experience, Germaine has invaluable knowledge. "If they want to know something, they come and ask me. Sometimes its good, and sometimes its not so good, to know so much," he says.

"He has a great rapport with his fellow colleagues as well as the doctors who work at the institute," says Dr. Ray Rajotte, director of SMRI who has known Germaine for 25 years. Rajotte says Germaine is the type of technician any department would love to have. He is always there if you need him, says Rajotte. "He is truly a dedicated technician who has contributed so many years to make SMRI a success. Even though he is not a surgeon, Ted showed a lot of doctors how to do their first surgical knots," says Rajotte. Germaine has seen almost 300 surgeons in his many years who have gone on to postings around the world. Rajotte knew the 'dreaded day' would come when Germaine would retire and he says it will be hard to fill the gap.

Germaine has been an active member of NASA and seen many changes at the U of A. He is concerned about the long-term effects of cutbacks to the institution and especially on support staff. Germaine says he will miss the U of A. There are dozens of pictures of people on the walls who have come through the lab and Germaine knew them all. He is not sure what exactly retirement will mean to him. "I've never been retired before. Over the years, I've usually worked during my vacations," he says. "So I don't plan on doing a lot of sitting around."

Germaine has kept physically fit all his life by running. Two years ago, he ran Edmonton's half marathon. Recently a back injury has prevented him from running but he hopes to take it up again in retirement. As well, his youngest son is a veterinarian in Montana and he plans on heading down to visit and lend a hand. And then there are those 40 acres of fence that need attention...