The safety mantra “be your brother’s keeper” takes on special meaning for Ronnie and Larry Holmes. The siblings, who grew up in Ravenna, now both work for AEP Ohio in Canton — Ronnie as a line mechanic and Larry as a work scheduling supervisor.
Larry began his lineworking apprenticeship in 2007 and later recruited his older brother, who joined AEP Ohio in 2013. Though a touch competitive (as many brothers are), their relationship is very close.
“We do everything together,” Ronnie says. “We hunt, we fish — we even live on the same street.”
The brothers worked together for nearly six years at the Canton service center and look back fondly at that time.
“We have always been really close, but when we worked together I got to see a different side of him as a person,” Ronnie says. “I really got to know him better.”
Many AEP Ohio lineworkers — and other employees, too — got into the profession because a relative at the company encouraged them. And the family affair will continue: Larry’s son, Chase, is now a lineworker in Canton’s transmission group.
“I think it’s great he’s here. It’s nice he can bounce ideas off his uncle and ask him any questions since Ronnie has similar experience,” Larry says.