After 34 years of service, Patrick Fitzpatrick plans to retire in December--or will he?

United States Cold Storage will not find it easy to replace Patrick W. Fitzpatrick, senior vice president and chief operating officer, when he retires in December of 2004. The Fresno, California-based warehouseman's long and fruitful career with US Cold began almost a quarter-century ago, when he joined the company after working a number of years for Trans Canada Freezers, which at the time was a USCS sister firm with seven facilities across Canada.

Perhaps semi-retirement will better describe his shift in gears, as the veteran with more than three decades of valuable experience will continue to serve the company as a member of its board of directors.

Fitzpatrick made his way up the ranks of the public refrigerated warehousing industry the old fashioned way, through hard work and smart decision making. His upwardly mobile path began in Chatham, Ontario, Canada in 1969, upon signing on with Trans Canada Freezers. It was not long before he was named vice president of the company's Alberta operations.

In 1980 Fitzpatrick came to USCS to head up plants in California's central valley. He later took charge of all of Region II, which encompasses facilities in California, Texas, Tennessee and Florida.