Oldest Workers: Why We Refuse To Retire?
At 102 years old, Loren Wade is one of the oldest workers in America.
For the past 30 years, he has worked at Wal-Mart’s Winfield, Kansas store. Currently, he works 32 hours a week as an associate in the lawn and garden department, doing everything from stocking the shelves and running the cash register to helping customers pick out flowers for their garden.
- Name: Betty Reid Soskin
- Age: 93
Betty Reid Soskin has been an office worker, a record store owner and a political staffer. But it wasn’t until she was well into her 80s that she found her dream job.
Seven years ago, she became a park ranger at the Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond, Calif. Three times a week, she shares with visitors what it was like to work in a segregated union hall during World War II — how she never saw herself as a “Rosie” since black women weren’t hired to do the same work as white women.
- Name: Kenneth Curzon
- Age: 91
In a career that has spanned many decades, Kenneth Curzon has done everything from managing service centers at car dealerships to acting as Smokey the Bear for the U.S. Forest Service. He’s also a World War II veteran who witnessed D-Day from the beaches of Normandy as a member of the British forces.
But for the past 24 years he has been running the parking services at Scripps Memorial Hospital, which sees more than 3,000 vehicles come in and out every day.