Retired Wisconsin electrician offers powerful gift

Daily Reporter (Milwaukee), Feb 12, 2007 by Paul Snyder

Doing electrical work is just like riding a bicycle, says Bud Sabel. You never really forget how to do it.

So even though Sabel retired three years ago after 40 years in the business, he's been able to help out his children with the odd wiring job here and there and lend a hand in some volunteer jobs around his hometown of Malone. Oh, and he also helped bring some power to the people of Rosita, Nicaragua.

Sabel joined three other parishioners from the Holy Family parish in Fond du Lac in November to do bring electricity to a community center that's part of Holy Family's sister parish in Rosita. The effort was organized by Jack Shanahan, a parishioner and the recently retired president of Moraine Park Technical College in Fond du Lac.

"They were refurbishing it into a civic building for the community and to be used by other volunteers, such as doctors, who go down there to work," Sabel said. "The building's 20 years old, and it's never had electricity."

But Sabel also had to make sure he was good to go before taking off.

"Because I was in the union (IBEW Local 494), doing those kinds of jobs can be a no-go because of my pension," he said. "But I called Jerry Keifenheim, who's the business representative for Local 494, and he said it was fine."

Sabel joined another longtime electrician from Wisconsin on the effort, Dan Kremer, who retired in 1997 after 44 years in the business.

"Jack Shanahan mentioned the project to me, and we quickly laid out the plans for how to wire the building," Kremer said. "I asked who was going down to work on it, and he indicated that they really didn't have anyone, so I volunteered. It was a really rewarding experience."

Grateful recipients

Kremer said the wiring wasn't any different and for the most part, it was an easy job, although there were some issues with piping that didn't fit and other materials that were supposed to be on site that never showed up.

"It all worked out, though," he said. "It's just a matter of getting started, really. Once you get going on the job, you remember all the old tricks of the trade. We worked it out nicely."

While both Kremer and Sabel said the work was rewarding to do, both emphasized the attitude of the local community in Rosita and said Americans could do well to learn a thing or two from the people.

"It was very interesting," Sabel said. "Everyone should go down there at some point just to see how people live on almost nothing. They work on a barter system - 'You do this for me, and I'll do this for you.' There's hardly ever any money exchanged."

There are also significantly less material possessions to speak of, Kremer said.

"It was really rewarding to meet the people, because when it comes to material things, they have so much less than we have here, and yet, they seem to be happier than we are," Kremer said. "They don't take anything for granted - they know what's really important and were very, very grateful for the work we did."