SARAH SCHUTT/The Globe Gazette
Blanche Schulze (right) provides therapy to Oakwood resident Luella Low.
The 67-year-old certified nurse's aide has been working at the nursing home for 22 years and intends to keep on working as long as possible.
She is one of a growing number of North Iowans who are ignoring the idea of retirement at age 65 and continuing to work, in some cases decades beyond what many people might consider retirement age.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that the number of older workers - defined as those 55 and older - will practically double, from 18 million in 2000 to more than 33 million in 2025.
Schulze was working in the care center laundry when a spot in the nurse's aide class opened.
"Someone said I couldn't do it and I wanted to prove them wrong," she said.
For the past 15 years, Schulze has worked in rehabilitation therapy.
"Everybody is like a family. They are my second family and I couldn't get along without them. I guess that's why I stayed," Schulze said.
"Being able to interact with the residents, the staff here; the residents - when I do have the time to sit and talk with them, it's just fantastic to hear about their backgrounds and the things they have done."
Recently, Schulze had lunch with several members of her CNA class - all of whom are retired.
They asked her why she was still working.
"I said because I enjoy my job and I don't want to sit at home."
Vacations are fun for the first two or three days, then she said she itches to get back to work.
"I'm bored. I can only read so many books. I can only clean the house so much. I don't know what I would do if I retired," Schulze said.
The "R" word did cross her mind at one point.
"We talked about that one day. I was thinking, well, maybe I should retire," she said.
But after a conversation with Sheri Weaver, care center administrator, she made up her mind to stay as long as she wanted to and was able to do her job.
Schulze said Weaver told her, "as far as I can see, you're doing your job. Why should you retire?"
Weaver said the experience, knowledge and judgment that Schulze brings to her job is invaluable.
"We can't begin to teach what Blanche knows," Weaver said.
Helen Blood, of Carpenter, has spent 44 years helping put out the weekly St. Ansgar Enterprise Journal.
"They wanted a proof reader and I applied for the job and got it," said the 74-year-old. That was 1960.
"I am a typist and I do the grocery ads," she said.
She also works the morning shift from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. on weekends in the clubhouse at the golf course.
"Who wants to sit around home all day?" she asked. "And I need the money."
Work "keeps me going," she said.
For Blood, continued employment helps her make ends meet financially.
"It's something to do. It gives you something to do instead of sitting home watching TV."
Her husband died in 1989. They were married for more than 40 years. Blood has a daughter, Nancy, who lives in Mesa, Ariz., and a son, Steve, who lives in Mason City.
What do her children think about her continued employment? "I've never asked them," Blood said.
She plans to keep right on working as long as she is able or "until they get rid of me."
Titonka's Edward Boyken joined the Titonka Savings Bank in 1934. Nearly 70 years later, the 88-year-old continues to make it into the office nearly every day.
"I'm just in the habit of coming down here, I guess," he said.
Boyken celebrated his 88th birthday on Friday.
"He's interested in what's going on," said Boyken's son, Allan, who is a director of the bank. "I think it helps keep him young.
"As a son, it's been a rare privilege to work with one's father."
Boyken said he can't complain about the way life's treated him.
"Something has sure helped. I think if you've got some interests to look forward to instead of being home all the time - that helps," he said.
If he misses a day of work, it's a fairly sure bet that he and his wife are at their cabin north of Brainerd, Minn.
"I putter around the yard and do some things like that," he said.
One thing he won't do is become computer literate.
"My wife is very fluent at it. That's one thing I refused to do," Boyken said.
Hampton City Attorney James E. Coonley is still going into his office every day at the age of 93.
"I used to go to Florida for a month in February, but I quit that because I got so tired of sitting around," Coonley said.
Coonley was the first attorney in the nation to get a blood alcohol test admitted as evidence in a drunken driving case. He also helped create the first rural electric generating plant in the nation, which was built south of Hampton. He was also the first attorney for the owner of that plant, the Franklin Rural Electric Cooperative.
Coonley was born March 27, 1910, in Iowa City, the eldest of three sons of John and Sadie (Trier) Coonley.
He has been the Hampton City Attorney since 1972.
He has no intention of retiring as long as his health is good.
"I just had a doctor's exam the day before yesterday in Mason City. He said I was all clear, 100 percent."
Schulze said she is taking the future one day at a time.
"Everybody says, well, when are you going to retire? I don't even think about it," she said.
Reach Peggy Senzarino at 421-0532 or peggy.senzarino@globegazette.com
