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81-Year-Old Keeps Monroe County Running On Time

By Barbara Brosher

Posted August 14, 2015

Dale Hepfer

Indiana's courthouse squares are often referred to as the centerpieces of the community. Many counties take special care when it comes to preserving the historic buildings.

And in Monroe County, an 81-year-old man plays a special role in making sure the courthouse isn't completely frozen in time.

Every week, Dale Hepfer or his business partner makes his way up flight after flight of stairs to the top of the courthouse in Bloomington's historic square. Not many people would consider it an easy journey, but his age doesn't show. He's heading up to the dome to make sure the four clocks people see outside are running OK on the inside.

"When I get here, I always check this monitor here," Hepfer says, pointing to a small clock face. "That's an indicator of what's outside on the dials."

In order to keep those clocks ticking, he has to wind them up every seven days. Hepfer points to a stack of concrete blocks on the end of a pulley to show how it works.

"You see those blocks of stone? They power this clock here," he says. "They furnish the power for this clock."

The job requires a lot of expertise, but it's something Hepfer just fell into.

He got into repairing clocks after he was laid off from RCA, where he worked for 22 years. He worked on clocks in his home basement before expanding his business to work on clocks owned by the City of Bloomington.

"There's always a new challenge," Hepfer says. "You always get something new. For instance, the Monon clock that's over in the city hall, you know about it. That was a challenge."

It's that challenge that keeps Hepfer climbing up and down the courthouse stairs week after week – to keep the place running like clockwork.

"It's always different and the people of course is what I like most about really," he says. "Everybody that comes and gets me to fix their clock, well they're a friend."

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