Staffer Is 60 Years Strong at Page Hardware

In 1956, at age 18, Roger Tucker had a conversation that changed his life.

Another high school student, Wayne Page, suggested that Roger get a job working for his father at the local hardware store.

Roger, now age 78, got the job at Page Hardware & Appliance Co. in Guilford, Connecticut, and never left.

For 60 years, Roger has steadfastly walked to work, answered thousands of customer questions and done about every task possible in the store.

“After a short time, I knew I’d be here as long as they’d let me stay,” Roger says. “It’s a great job and great, great people that I work for.”

By the end of 2016, eleven U.S. presidents will have taken and left office during Roger’s decades at Page Hardware. But in a world of change, Roger is a constant. He is still the Page Hardware staffer who former store employees and customers from decades past come back to see.

“People will come in this store to look for Roger,” Stephen Page, whose father hired Roger, says.

What happens if Roger isn’t available, and someone else offers to help?

They say, “’No, no. I want to talk to Roger.’ And they’ll come back,” Stephen says.

Roger has seen industry changes, with Walmart, Home Depot and Lowe’s moving to the area just within the past 15 years. He’s also played a role in the store getting bigger and the product mix adapting over the years.

“You’ve got all these big corporations doing business and such like that. It was really scary at the time,” Roger says. “We’ve been able to hold on.”

He’s also seen the Pages change, and has worked for three generations of the family.

“Roger was the hardware store manager for over three decades. During this time, Roger mentored two different generations of Pages that would ultimately become the president of Page Hardware, not to mention dozens of high school kids who fondly remember him today,” says Andrew Page, current company owner and president.

“Roger has been invaluable over the years. He guided me through the transition to True Value after our regional co-op began its decline. He was there when we finally computerized the store, changed to a Destination True Value (store remodel) and so many other changes we have undergone over the years.”

To the Pages, Roger has cemented himself essentially as a member of the family.

“He has managed to survive that many generations of us and he’s still here. And he’s still smiling,” Stephen says. “He has probably changed all of my kids’ diapers. He’s been like a surrogate relative.”

The week of March 21, six decades after Roger started that high school job, he plans to walk to Page Hardware as usual—he has always lived nearby—and continue working alongside the primary reasons he has stuck with his job so long. Those reasons include the Page family and the many, many people who have worked and shopped at Page Hardware over the years.

“I love all the people that come in the store,” Roger says. “I think I’ll stay as long as they allow me.”