Imagine that ancient time before email, websites, social media and laptops. Back then, computers were the size of a car and programmers spent hours writing code, coaxing their machines to churn out data on “tapes” only a few could read or understand.

Steve Ingram doesn’t have to imagine that time. He was there. Steve retired from Buckner on July 4 – what he called, “My other Independence Day” – after 40 years of running our Information Services Department.

When he came to Buckner in 1984, he didn’t just join the IS department, he was the department.

There was one computer in the entire organization, and it was used for payroll. It had a storage capacity of 147 megabytes (most iPhones today have at least 128 gigabytes).

Guys like Steve are like firefighters. You realize their critical importance when something goes wrong. And something always goes wrong with computers. But Steve’s even-keel and Christlike nature were perfect for his role at Buckner.

Before joining Buckner, Steve was working as a COBOL programmer for a glass plant in Wichita Falls, Texas. He had looked at other job opportunities, but nothing really fit, so he and his wife Jennifer decided to be “content where we were.” That’s when he saw an ad in The Baptist Standard from Buckner Baptist Benevolences for a computer services manager. He clipped the ad from the paper and still has it, along with his offer letter from Buckner.

“That’s how it all began,” Steve said. “I just felt a call to come to Buckner that many years ago.”

Journey through the last 40 years with Steve and Scott in the latest Buckner Today (and see the original classified ad that brought Steve to Buckner in 1984).