Daniel Verville
Painting a 50 year career
It was the summer of 1968 – a year of historical events. Man had orbited the moon, setting the stage for the moon landing. Martin Luther King Jr had been shot. Race relations were tense throughout the United States and the Vietnam War was raging overseas.
Daniel Verville was a young student with his whole life ahead of him. After completing high school at école secondaire Christophe-Colomb, he decide to take a summer job as an aircraft painter at Innotech Aviation, a subsidiary of Bombardier since 1996. After the summer, he was going to attend CEGEP in the fall … but his plans changed.
“Working on planes was something for a young man,” said Daniel. “A new challenge, a new trade. It was a kind of dream.”
Daniel had grown passionate about aviation. And now, 50 years later, Daniel recently retired from the only company he ever worked for.
The summer ‘68 changed everything for Daniel. He enjoyed learning about the trade and the challenges that would come with it. He attended trainings that taught him about painting aircraft, the equipment that was used and the processes for completing these jobs.
“I became a leader, then a foreman,” said Daniel. “When we [merged] with Bombardier, I worked a couple of years as a manager, then I changed my direction and I became a paint shop specialist,” which is how he spent his last 15 years at Bombardier.
“Every day was a new challenge,” said Daniel. “Every morning when I got up, I was excited to go to work because I liked what I did and I liked the people I worked with.”
Daniel (center) sitting with his daughter, Nadia (left), and wife, Sandra (right), at the Bombardier service recognition event
Daniel had a chance to work on a variety of projects through the years. The two that stood out most to him were painting aircraft for Oakley and for Cirque du Soleil. He loved planning the logistics and processes to get these jobs done, while collaborating with his team.
“There was a moment when the customer himself, the owner, came to work with the guys in the paint shop,” said Daniel, reminiscing on the job.
During his speech at a Bombardier service recognition event, Daniel said:
?Bombardier is a great company.
If you work with passion and devotion, you can get very far.
There is a lot of work where we are.
If anyone has a chance to work at Bombardier, go for it.
That’s the place to be.?
“If I had to do it again, I would do the same thing,” said Daniel optimistically. “I had a great career; I worked with great people.”
Daniel (left) accepting his recognition award for 50 years of service with Michel Ouellette, Senior Vice President, Program Management and Engineering, Bombardier Aviation; Normand Allard, Senior Technologist, Quality Assurance; and Sergio Marrone, Vice President, Delivery, Bombardier Business Aircraft.