JESSAMINE CO., Ky. (ABC 36 NEWS NOW) — Allen Peel, better known as ‘Doodle’, shares the work his father did as a lineman. Remembering what he went through when devastating storms like Hurricane Helene hit home. “He was a very smart man, and I look up to him,” Peel said. Russell Peel was a lineman for 40 years, saving lives and helping people in countless ways throughout his career. Allen, recalling a story from when his dad helped save someone’s life. “There was three men working on a pole ’bout four miles south of here and a wire became loose and hit one of the workers on the poles,” Allen said. The worker was knocked unconscious, but thanks to the efforts of Peel, he and the others on the pole survived. “My dad took what they called a hot stick and kept the wire from touching him and another man on the pole,” Allen said. An act that landed him in the local newspaper, but so many other of his acts went only noticed by his family. “An elderly lady called crying, we just sat down to eat, and she said, ‘Mr. Peel can you come and fix my electric it’s off’,” Allen said. On that Christmas night, his dad did just that. These days, linemen have better equipment, but back in those days, the reality was much different. “It was the old-fashioned way with the hooks and all and the boots and climbing up with the belt,” Allen said. “When he started work there in 1953, his salary was $1 an hour.” At the time, it was enough for him to provide for his family. He passed away in 2002 at the age of 71. “What else could we select at his funeral to play but Glen Campbell’s Wichita Lineman,” Allen said. Categories: Featured, Local News, News Tags: Allen Peel, Hurricane Helene, Lineman, linemen, russell peel