February 12, 2021 By Frank McCormack
As a 19-year-old, Bretford Wildrick took a job right out of high school as a welder at Iowa Marine & Repair in Keokuk, Iowa. Wildrick, a native of Hamilton, Ill., near Mississippi River Lock & Dam 19, had grown up watching towing vessels and riverboats at work on the river. His first job was on a construction crew that was building the mv. Tom Edwards, an 800 hp. fleet boat, which was named after the owner of Iowa Marine & Repair.
Wildrick said the owner had intended for the mv. Tom Edwards to propel the business into the vessel construction market, but when that didn’t materialize, Wildrick suddenly found himself out of a welding job.