Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Father Time

May 22, 2013
	<p>Lansing resident Glenn Williams works on a clock in the basement of his home May 20, 2013. Williams started his business, Tenor Clock, in January 2013, after a grandfather clock built by his father-in-law was in need of repair. Danyelle Morrow/The State News</p>

Lansing resident Glenn Williams works on a clock in the basement of his home May 20, 2013. Williams started his business, Tenor Clock, in January 2013, after a grandfather clock built by his father-in-law was in need of repair. Danyelle Morrow/The State News

Photo by Danyelle Morrow | The State News

When time stops, Lansing resident and MSU alumnus Glenn Williams can get it up and running again.

After a grandfather clock made by his father-in-law stopped working, Williams picked up the techniques and skills from another clock repairman before branching off into his own business. He said he always was a tinkerer when it came to old cars and motorcycles, and had the tools and mechanical background to succeed in the repairman field.

“It just made sense,” he said. “It was a clean way to keep my fingers busy.”

But in a world of technology and digital clocks, Williams said there are very few people doing clock repairs anymore.

Aside from being a practical business investment, repairing clocks allows a historical tie for Williams, where the clocks typically have a historical significance to an event commemorating someone’s life.

“I can’t think of anything else of practical use that goes back that far,” he said.

Like the clocks that are passed down from generation to generation, Williams would like to share his clock repairing skill.

“It’s something I hope to teach to my son,” he said. “As he gets older it’s just a skill he’ll have.”

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