For nearly 40 years (hired in 1981) Elijah has been a constant presence at Rust Construction. It is not an exaggeration to say that Elijah’s patient and supportive personality has shaped the culture of the company for generations of employees. In residential construction, the people and the process are linked. Many of our projects were successful because Elijah’s good humor and hard work set the tone for everyone’s experience.
Elijah hails from Plum Branch, South Carolina and tells stories of growing up in the rural 1960s and 1970s South, where as a teenaged student he drove a school bus for his school system and worked the night shift at a fabric mill. After high school, Elijah enlisted in the Army and was stationed in Germany and Louisiana where he drove M60 A1 Patton tanks. After his honorable discharge in 1979, family connections brought Elijah to the DC area where he eventually found work at Rust Construction. Today, Elijah lives with his wife, Elizabeth, in Prince George’s County, MD.
Outside of work, Elijah is a master at golfing, bowling, and tossing horseshoes. Do not bet against Eli in any of those sports. Supposedly he has a hole in one at several golf courses in the area and is a member of three bowling leagues. If there was a competitive horseshoe toss league, he would probably be a member.
Rust Construction owns a 1983 International dump truck. The beast is old-school, but it gets the job done. Elijah says that you need to “feel the truck’s needs to make it happy” and he is right. He is the only person who knows how to drive it without endangering the ancient 10 speed transmission. When Elijah is not sweet talking to the dump truck in soothing undertones, you will find him taking care of any and every other type of job we do at Rust Construction – including keeping the rest of us in line and smiling.
