Michael Feigl has been taking one day at a time for most of his life, so he doesn’t expect many big changes upon retirement.
Hired at the UI electrical maintenance shop in 1984, Feigl’s course changed just 18 months into the new job when he and his motorcycle were struck by a vehicle on Green Street.
The accident turned the motorcycle into a mangled scrap of metal and left Feigl – who still has steel pins in his leg following a series of surgeries – in traction and unable to work for nearly two years.
“When I came back, it was like starting my life all over again,” he said.
Once comfortable on ladders and in electrical-access tunnels, Feigl discovered his patched-up leg wasn’t able to handle the day-to-day duties of an electrician as it used to.
But Feigl did what he always does – he rolled with it.
An electrician on a Navy fleet ballistic missile nuclear submarine from 1969 to 1974, Feigl soon went to work fulfilling the requirements to become a manager. He would become a sub-foreman in 1992 and a foreman in 1995, before spending his last 10 years at the UI as an electrical construction superintendent as part of the university’s Inspection and Commission Group.
“It took three or four years and I interviewed four or five times before they found the right position for me,” he said. “Because of that I was able to take some of the pressure off the leg.”
Feigl, originally from Chicago, has had an on-again, off-again relationship with higher education since receiving a full-ride academic scholarship to Northwestern after graduating high school.
He admittedly squandered that scholarship for “good times,” and in 1969 found himself on the wrong side of a draft notice.
“School wasn’t working out,” he said. “And when I left I got my draft notice.”
Feigl spent five years in the Navy and ended up at the UI as an electrical engineering student thanks to the GI Bill.
But the academic hill was even higher to climb the second time around because Feigl also was trying to feed and house his new family. And some of the classes he had taken more than five years ago at Northwestern now had become a little foggy in his mind.
“I had been out of school for five years,” he said. “There aren’t any engineering courses that you can just take and forget about. They build on each other.
“It wasn’t working out and I decided I needed to get a job.”
He admits he was “a little overqualified” for an electrician’s apprentice, but he took the opportunity in 1977, became a journeyman in 1981 and in 1984 landed at the UI. Since the accident he has earned a bachelor’s (1996) and a master’s (1999) degree in the industrial technology Eastern Illinois University program offered at Parkland College. He also has taught classes at the local electricians’ union apprentice school as well as electrical classes at Parkland.
“I was determined to get that degree,” he said. “It took a long time, but I was always getting closer every time. When I look back, it looks pretty good. I can’t believe I did all that. A lot of times my decisions were just supposed to help make ends meet.”
That approach will carry over to retirement, which became official Aug. 31.
Feigl hopes to travel a little more often and recently returned from a trip to visit his stepson in California – a Navy fighter pilot and graduate of the UI’s Institute of Aviation who recently started his own family.
“Finances will determine a lot of what we do,” he said, noting any changes in retirement benefits “might knock down those plans a bit.”
For now he’s looking forward to celebrating his 25th wedding anniversary – set purposely on Valentine’s Day so he never forgets the date – and hopes to complete a trip “to someplace warm.”
He said there were things he enjoyed about work – like the friendships he continues to keep – but there are more things to enjoy without it.
“As far as getting up and going to work every day, I don’t miss that at all,” he said. “Right now, every day is like TGIF. The best thing about retirement is Sunday night. I just want to stay healthy and enjoy it.”
