He can see the light

COEUR d'ALENE - Boyd Bumpus beams when he talks lighting.

Sorry, couldn't help it, but he does.

The 78-year-old knows lights. He has been in that business since 1952, when he landed a job as a draftsman earning $225 a month with Columbia Electric and Manufacturing Company in Spokane

"This changed my whole life," he said.

You see those exterior lights at Riverstone? Bumpus was the salesman.

Those fixtures in the bay rooms at The Coeur d'Alene Resort? Addis Lake City Ford? Yep, those too.

And the Parkwood Building? It was Bumpus who sold the lights for the outdoor building facade.

"All that lighting is made in America, and it's all LED," he said.

Whether interior or exterior, whether for hospitals, homes, schools or businesses, Bumpus has been involved in providing light across the country.

He smiles as he rattles off a list of projects he influenced.

"What I'm most proud of right now is the NIC corridor project," he said.

The street and sidewalk lighting there came via Bumpus and Blankenship & Associates, where he works today as senior specification consultant, and has worked for the last 18 years.

Despite closing in on 80, Bumpus has no plans to stop making that commute from his Coeur d'Alene home to the office in Spokane.

Bumpus is trim, fit and enjoys golfing and skiing. He sports a full head of graying hair combed straight back and wears wired-rim glasses. He and his wife, Diana, live with their two 70-pound Labs, sisters, Chelsey and Macie.

He quit smoking in 1981, "or I wouldn't be sitting here, probably," he said. And in 1986, he quit drinking the "hard stuff" and these days is a man of wine, two glasses a week, thank you.

"I just keep busy. I tell my wife, I'm the only 78-year-old living in Coeur d'Alene who's not in assisted living," he said, laughing.

He displayed that same drive and desire as a teen.

He recalls applying for work at Columbia Electric and Manufacturing when he was 18, and being told to come back tomorrow.

He didn't do it.

"I came back every day for two weeks," he said.

His persistence landed him and interview, but he still wasn't hired. When he turned to leave, someone said, "Wait a minute. Do you know how to draw?"

Turns out he did.

Bumpus was hired as a draftsman and remained with Columbia for 24 years, eventually resigning as director of design and application.

Following a one-year stint with Indy Lighting in Indianapolis as national sales manager, Bumpus accepted the marketing manager post with Globe Illumination in Los Angeles, where he stayed a decade.

"Best 10 years of my life," he said.

It was there he designed a new parabolic lighting fixture series that catapulted the company from $7 million a year to nearly $25 million a year in sales over seven years.

"That was a great run, a great run," he said.

Bumpus continued in lighting, landing jobs in Los Angeles and New York before returning to Spokane.

Some career highlights:

* Designed the lighting and sold the jobs for the five tallest buildings west of the Mississippi River, including the 72-story Columbia Center in Seattle.

* $2 million order for the 80-story Standard Oil Building in Chicago.

* $2 million order for the Library of Congress in Washington., D.C.

* Designed the main fixture for Target stores, nationwide.

He made business calls throughout the U.S., at one point oversaw 50 representatives, enjoyed some monster-sized bonuses for a job well done, and met wonderful people.

"It was a great time," he said.

Bumpus wanted to be an architect when he was young.

"I never got to be an architect, but I ended up calling on major architects and engineers in the United States," he said.

He excelled at sales. He chuckled when he recounted a job interview, and he was asked "What turns you on?"

"Purchase orders," he responded.

Good answer. He was hired.

Early in his career, lighting was "all florescent."

Today, everything is going LED (light-emitting diode).

"LED is getting more and more efficient, all the time," he said. "And it's getting more affordable."

People often ask him what's next with lighting. Cheaper? Brighter? Better? Longer-lasting bulbs?

Nobody knows for certain, he said, but Boyd Bumpus does have a plan. And it's foolproof, he says.

And yes, it involves lighting.

"I'm going to work until I die," he said, laughing. "You gotta stay busy."