“Never give up,” advised Christal McLemore. “The Lord will help you. God never promised anybody it would be easy. Just keep trying.”
Christal McLemore knows what it means to work hard and never give up. She knows what she wants and has always been a hard worker.
“I started working when I was 15. I started work at Bill’s Dollar Store. It was in a little bitty tiny building between Western Auto and The Shoe Shop. I made $1.95 an hour,” remembered Christal. “I folded clothes until they felt comfortable with me running the register, and then I started running the register, folding clothes, stocking, and whatever they wanted me to do. I worked in and around Quitman until I graduated from high school.”
Once she graduated from high school, Christal continued her education by attaining her college degree. When it was time to find a job after she graduated, however, she was distraught to learn what her wages would be with all the responsibility she would have. Instead, she elected to work a different position until later in life.
“I went to Jones County Junior College for two years, and then I went to Mississippi State. I worked the entire time I was at State. I majored in Early Childhood Education. I got a degree to teach, and I was certified to teach K-2. When I got my first job offer, it hurt my feelings so bad because I was making more money clerking at a drug store,” recalled Christal. “I said that I don’t know why I would want to take on all that responsibility if I could make more money doing something else. I never did it until Seth came along. Then, I went back and took a couple of courses and took my test and got my teaching license. They never would hire me full time at Quitman. All they would let me do was sub, so I did long term subbing and short term subbing. I did anything I could possibly do at the school while Seth was there. I drove a school bus. I worked a couple days in the cafeteria.”
The job she was doing while at Mississippi State eventually led her into a position at another company, allowing her to move away from Mississippi.
“I went to Texas with a company after I graduated from Mississippi State. I worked at the Baptist Hospital as a pharmacy tech for a while because I worked in pharmacies up here,” informed Christal. “I got good with some of their hands on stuff. They installed a pneumatic tube system at the Baptist Hospital, so I got good with running the computer and troubleshooting it so that I could keep it running. I did the computer end of it, and they had a maintenance guy who did the mechanical part of it. The company sent me to Denver and taught me the system and all that kind of stuff. When I stopped working at the Baptist Hospital, they hired me and moved me to Texas, and I worked for them for about three years. Then, they bought themselves and downsized, and I was one of the people they eliminated.”
She was not taken by surprise at losing her position. In fact, she already had another job lined up and ready to take on full time. Eventually, it became her favorite job.
“I kind of felt the writing on the wall, so I had started working in the evenings selling cars at the dealership. I sold cars for them for a little while at a Toyota place over there,” Christal reminisced. “Then, I went to work at Parkway Pontiac for a while selling cars. I was able to roll one on the spot. It got a block down the road and quit—a brand new car. It was coming back on the tow chain, and I made the remark in front of the owner of the dealership that I might as well be back in service since that’s where all my cars end up anyways. He called me in that Monday and asked if I would like to do that, and I went back there and was a service writer for 20 years. That was my favorite job.”
She loved her job and had intended to continue working there even after having her baby boy; however, one terrifying instance that happened to Seth when someone else was watching him made her decide that it was the time to come home and keep an eye on her son herself.
“When I got pregnant with Seth, I was working at a Mitsubishi Hyundai Isuzu place. I was running the Hyundai Isuzu side of it and making good money,” remembered Christal. “When Seth came along, I looked for and talked to I don’t know how many people to find someone to keep him. This one lady had excellent references, so I signed up to accept her. One day when he was only six months old, she left him at the front of a grocery store with a two year old while she ran back to her car and turned her lights off. That was when Amber, the one the Amber Alert is named after, went missing and was in the same area that Amber went missing in. I just couldn’t let him stay with anyone else after that because he’s meant the world to me from the time I had him up to now.”
It didn’t take too long before the decision was made to return to Mississippi. Christal did everything she could to work hard to provide for her family and be there to support Seth when needed as he was growing up.
“My mom kept talking to me about coming on back home, so we loaded up the truck and came on. I worked for Roy Patton for a little while because I wanted to be in Quitman. When Roy closed up, I started subbing as much as they would have me over at the school,” expressed Christal. “I supplemented that by working at Advance Auto Parts and was there for about three years. I was there long enough to become a manager. I drove a bus for Quitman at the same time and would park the bus at the store after the morning route and then leave in time to go get the kids and take them back home. I stopped working for them, and shortly thereafter, my mom got sick and died. Seth was a senior.”
She decided that it was time to extend her education again and went back to attain what she needed for a career in the health field. While she enjoyed her job, she eventually decided that she preferred to have a job with less demanding hours since she was consistently working long hours at the hospital.
“I went and got my CNA license, and I worked as a CNA for about four years,” explained Christal. “Then, I worked as a monitor tech at Andersons for about three years. I’m 66 years old, and I was trying to figure out a way to either cut back or quit. Every time I would plan to tell her I was going to leave, she would say how much she needed us there to work. I worked a lot of hours. Finally, I cleaned out my cubby and left.”
Now, she has found a job that is perfect for her. She loves everyone she works with each day and is glad that her job is now much closer to home.
“I talked to Howard, and he told me to come on and work for him at Quitman Building Supply. I wanted to work around Quitman anyways and didn’t want to drive to Meridian anymore,” declared Christal. “I told Howard I know more about auto parts than I do building supplies, so it would be a learning experience for me. I feel like I’ve landed in the nicest spot I could be, and I’m glad to be back home in Quitman. There’s always something to do, but it’s a lot of fun to work there. Now that he has me in the small engines part, I know more about that than I do about the building supplies; although, I was picking up a lot of stuff at the other. I still work both places whenever they need me and wherever they want me to work.”
While she is a hard worker, there are things she enjoys doing at home. She doesn’t do well just sitting still doing nothing, and she really prefers to be outside working hard. She especially enjoys cutting grass.
“I bought an X-Mark from Sonny back in 2006. Their selling point at the time was that it was the last lawnmower you’d have to buy. It didn’t give me any trouble until last year, and it hurt my feelings when the engine blew up,” proclaimed Christal. “I got it fixed. I love that mower. I like to cut grass more than anything; that’s my happy place.”
Through all the ups and downs in her life, Christal has never given up. She has always pressed on and worked hard, trusting that the Lord would help and provide what she needed. She continues to work hard each day and brightens others day with her animated smile.
If you would like to nominate someone for Person of the Week, contact Brittney Mangum at 601-776-3726.
