Elvin “Buck” Clark says he’ll work two more years, then call it a career.

He’s been working with the men and machines of Warren County’s road crew for 40 years.

During these last two years, he’ll try to impart his old-fashioned work ethic.

“I came up in a time when I could learn from good men,” said Clark, a foreman on the 76-man road staff.

“I came up in a time when I just learned from a lot of good men,” Clark said. “They’re all gone now, but I was able to learn what they had to say.”

In August, Clark, 63, was recognized formally by the Warren County Board of Supervisors for 40 years of service. Since 2007, such honors have been bestowed upon people who have worked for the county at least 15 years.

“Buck’s done an exemplary job of showing how people should work,” Board President Bill Lauderdale said. “He does it. He walks the walk.”

These days, his crew is a team of six to 12 laborers and equipment drivers who might be grading a road or running trackhoes to help install pipe to improve drainage near a deep ravine, as was the case last week along Mount Alban Road as Hurricane Isaac’s wind gusts blew across Warren County.

“When I started, you had an old hydrostatic dozer you couldn’t easily turn like Lorenzo just did,” Clark said. “We would put in six culverts by hand with picks and shovels.”

Lorenzo Reese, 30, has been on the job barely a month and has heeded Clark’s tutelage.

“He says to make sure to do the job right the first time, so you don’t have to backtrack,” Reese said.

Elmer Nielsen, a dump truck driver with the department, stopped between loads of dirt on the Mount Alban job to throw a little praise Clark’s way.

“I’ve worked at LeTourneau, I’ve driven trucks and hauled mobile homes across this country,” Nielsen said. “That’s the best man I’ve ever worked for.”

What’s kept the amiable Clark in good health and in one piece while driving dump trucks, motor graders and bulldozers on a road maintenance crew in all types of weather for four decades is simple, he said.

“It’s about being careful, really,” Clark said. “But, (Hurricane) Katrina … when she came in … you know where I was? I was out in it with a pile saw, running day and night shifts.”

Clark says he should make it to 65 with the same admiration for jobs well done as he’s had up to now.

“It depends on if I can get these fellas to do it,” he said.