About Us
The Beginning
It all began back in 1954 while Gerald Smith (bottom right), a World War II Navy veteran, was attending Lexington Baptist College in Lexington, Kentucky. He had recently moved his wife and two children from their farm in Kansas so that he could attend school. It didn't take long to realize that it wouldn't be easy to support a family and attend college at the same time. About this time Gerald met a block mason named Carlo Sandlin. Carlo helped Gerald establish a business digging footings by hand with a pick and sharpshooter. Gerald found a ready and willing workforce in the other preacher boys from the college.
New Partner
Gerald's first pastorate was at Ephesus Baptist Church located near Crab Orchard in Lincoln County Kentucky. It was there that his oldest daughter Linda met her husband to be, Fred Jufer. Fred worked for Gerald for a while prior to enlisting in the Navy after high school in 1963. During the Vietnam Era he served aboard the destroyer USS Putnam DD-767 and deployed to the Mediterranean. Around 1968, after his service was complete, he again went to work for Gerald and began to operate the company's first Bobcat backhoe (this was the second Bobcat in Lexington). In 1973 Gerald left secular employment to pursue full-time work in the ministry as pastor of Northside Baptist Church in Lexington. Fred assumed operations of the company and remained active in the business until his retirement in December 2019. Fred went home to meet his Lord and Saviour
on January 29, 2001.
The Next Generation
In 2000, Fred's son Tim Jufer assumed the responsibilities of daily operation of the company. In 2006 he was called up for active duty with the Navy Seabees for a tour in Camp Fallujah, Iraq and then again in 2010 for a tour in Kandahar, Afghanistan. In 2016 he took over the role as President of the company and in January 2017 he retired from the Navy Reserve after 28 years of service. His last duty assignment was serving as Command Master Chief for First Naval Construction Regiment in Port Hueneme, California
Family Tradition (Tim, Gerald, Larry Wallce, Fred)
In 2021 Tim's son Austin joined the team as Vice President and his daughter Danielle came on as Secretary and Bookkeeper.
Since 1954 S.J.S. has installed more footings than any other contractor in the area. All of the homes in many of Lexington's older subdivisions still stand solidly as a testament to quality footings by S.J.S Inc. We look forward to serving you in the future.