As a third-generation head of Wingfield Scale Co., Joseph Wingfield has helped grow the 85-year-old industrial and mining weighing business with new technologies and markets.
But for all of his success working at the Chattanooga firm for the past 23 years and heading the family-owned business since 2017, Wingfield said he probably gained the most attention 19 years ago for a momentary decision he made to jump off the Market Street bridge to get to his flooded houseboat on the north shore where he was living at the time.
With the Tennessee River swollen with more than 8 inches of rain in three days, Wingfield’s floating home required a brief swim to access, so Wingfield put on his life jacket and jumped off the Market Street bridge to swim to the houseboat where he lived at the time with one of his brothers.
The jump quickly brought the local police and SWAT team for a rescue attempt and later charges against Winfield for reckless endangerment.
“I’m not quite as smart as I look,” Wingfield quipped Tuesday while recalling the incident during the Chattanooga Area Leadership Prayer Breakfast.