Hyman, who will turn 78 next week, retires this month as the state`s longest-serving employee. For 60 years, Hyman has focused on Maryland history in the making, documenting the construction of roadways, snapping pictures of more ribbon-cutting ceremonies than he can remember and capturing on film (and, more recently, digitally) the state`s changing transportation landscape.
Gov. Larry Hogan honored Hyman this month for not only his years in state government but also his commitment to his job. In his 66 years of working for the state, Hyman never took a sick day.
"Tim Hyman is truly an inspiration to us all," Hogan said as he presented Hyman with a proclamation for his retirement at a Board of Public Works meeting on Sept. 16.
The relics of six decades in state government fill Hyman`s small corner office in a state office park not far from Baltimore-Washington International Marshall Airport.
Taped to the wall near his door is a copy of a 1963 photo of President John F. Kennedy participating in a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Interstate 95, near the Delaware line, with Maryland Gov. Millard Tawes and Delaware Gov. Elbert Carvel. The photo was taken days before Kennedy`s assassination.
Packing up his belongings one recent day, Hyman pulled a file from his desk drawer that contained a program for the Eastern Region Military-Civilian Safety Conference at the Statler Hilton of Annapolis. It was dated 1969.
"Look at 2:30 and 2:45," he said, noting the times listed for the speakers on the back of the program.
At 2:30 p.m., the program said there was a "message from the President of the United States. . . . Richard Nixon."
Fifteen minutes later, Hyman, who was working as an engineer at the time (in addition to taking pictures), was listed on the program to speak.
Comptroller Peter Franchot, who participated in the brief ceremony last week to acknowledge Hyman`s time in state government, asked the retiree what the secret was to his longevity.
"Ignore everything," Hyman answered, smiling.
Hyman later explained to a reporter that showing up to work became easy after he realized that he shouldn`t let squabbles or disagreements affect his productivity or stop him from doing his best work.
When you argue, Hyman said, the other person is satisfied. But when you ignore that person, "that hurts more than anything, even though they don`t tell you."
Hyman said that strategy helped him when he was confronted with discrimination during the height of the civil rights movement.
He recalled attending a ribbon-cutting ceremony on the Eastern Shore in the 1960s as the representative for the state highway department. He wasn`t allowed to eat at the restaurant where some of his colleagues dined.
Hyman, who grew up in Northeast Baltimore, started working for the state in 1949, when he was 12 years old. Because his family was struggling financially, Hyman "moved up" his age to 18 on the paperwork to get the job. His pay was $37.50 every two weeks.
He worked during the day and went to school at night, eventually obtaining his high school diploma.
"I wasn`t the only one back then," Hyman said. "There were some younger than me."
At first, he handed out tags for the Motor Vehicle Administration. He then moved to the State Highway Administration, where he had many titles but always followed his boss around with a camera.
After a former Baltimore Sun photographer taught him how to take pictures, he became the staff photographer for the agency, processing film and making prints in the lab. Twenty years later, he took photography courses at the Maryland Institute of Art and the Community College of Baltimore.
Hyman will leave with 5,562 hours of accumulated sick time (he has donated other time he earned to co-workers who ran out of sick time and needed more, he said).
Hyman said he didn`t quite understand the practices of some of his co-workers.
"People accumulate a half-day of sick, they take a half-day of sick," Hyman said shaking his head. "They accumulate a day, they take a day."
Hyman said he doesn`t tell people that he never called in sick. Instead, he says, "I saved this much, I accumulated this much."
He said he learned his work ethic from his father, who was a minister, but he declined to answer additional questions about his family life. He told a Washington Post photographer that he is the father of 15 children.
Looking around his office, filled with photos of the construction of the Chesapeake Bay and the Woodrow Wilson bridges, Hyman said none was the most important picture he`s taken over the years.
Hyman said that distinction goes to a photo taken of his mother, Irene Hyman. The picture, which once sat on his desk, has already been packed and taken to his home in Baltimore County.
"When I look at this picture I see me growing up," Hyman said. "My whole life is right there."
More about:
