Fricks on his appointment to the top job at Newport News Shipbuilding in late 1995. Here was an old-time metal bender ... Since 1996 the latter's stock has more than doubled to $38.

Henry Deese Jr. was just 21 years old when he first walked through the gates of Newport News Shipbuilding. More than 67 years later, the shipyard’s longest-tenured employee is retiring.