Three men sit in barber chairs waiting on their next customer inside the Razor’s Edge barber shop on Washington Street. The booth closest to the door belongs to Donald Spry, co-owner and barber of 60 years.

Spry got into barbering when he was 25-years-old by accident, but he’s enjoyed a lengthy career.

“Years ago, Homer Donovan and Raymond Wales barbered in Elkmont for 60 years and I wanted to match at least what they did,” he said.

Before Spry was a barber, he planned to go into the radio and TV repair trade. He just happened to also cut his family members’ and neighbor’s hair on the side.

“My neighbor came in one day and asked for a flat top,” Spry said, adding he didn’t know what the style looked like. “I guess it turned out halfway decent because he was fishing and Bob Davis — he owned Bob’s Place on Jefferson Street — asked where he got that flat top.”

When Davis learned it was Spry who administered the hairdo, he sent his business partner Fred Ferguson to offer Spry a job. Spry accepted and has stuck with it ever since.

“I never dreamed I’d be cutting hair for a living,” he said. “But when you’re self-employed, you can’t quit.”

During his 60 years in the business, Spry said he has given numerous first haircuts.

“Some babies never move and some it takes four or five people to hold them down,” he said. “We don’t cut a lot of kids and babies anymore because their mothers take them to the beauty shop.”

Of all the different cuts and styles Spry has worked on, he said his favorite is — of course — the flat top.

“That’s where it started,” he said. “I used to really enjoy cutting it when my eyes were better.”

Spry’s son Mark said in his 58 years, he has had less than 10 hair cuts by someone other than his father.

“I accuse him of going back for warranty work — I say he’s never cut it right so I never pay him,” Mark said jokingly. “If he ever did one right, I’d have to pay him for it.”

Spry agreed with his son’s statement.

“He never pays me,” he said.

The Razor’s Edge is the second shop Spry has worked in and the first he has co-owned. He worked at Bob’s Place for 20 years and has been a staple at the Razor’s Edge for 40 years. He works with Nathaniel Mencia and fellow co-owner Thomas Clinard.

“This is my life,” he said. “This and working on my lawnmowers.”

When asked about retirement, Spry laughed and said, “I’m subject to retire at any time, but I’ll probably finish out this year if the Lord’s willing.”