Working 'Day to Day' At Age 85

LONG PRAIRIE, MINNESOTA

Social worker Julia Zehnle — a member of the Todd County Social Services Federation, which recently affiliated with AFSCME as Local 3168 (Council 6) — was just honored as one of this state's Top Ten Outstanding Older Workers of 2002. For 63 years, an entire career and then some, she has been employed by the county's Social Services office. Born and raised in this small town, which lies smack in the middle of the state, Zehnle (ZEN-lee) joined the staff in 1939 after graduating from the College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph, Minn.

She has seen a lot of changes during her tenure. "When I started, we didn't have copy machines, and we didn't have adding machines on our desk, either."

She also ran such programs as the local version of the New Deal's Works Progress Administration. The agency certified unemployed residents for jobs building schools and improving public facilities. "An unskilled laborer received $39.20 a month, and of course the dollar value was very great at that time. People could rent a house out in the country for maybe five bucks a month, and use wood for fuel."

Zehnle spent much of her career as a child-welfare worker. She is now part of the social services financial unit, assisting families with relatives residing in nursing homes. Besides the "Top Ten" award, she has received a certificate of commendation from then-Gov. Jesse Ventura and recognition from her alma mater.

Will she ever retire? "Oh, I haven't decided that yet," Zehnle replies with a smile. "I'm going from day to day. I have longevity in my genes — my parents both lived to be 98." However far she goes — and however long she works — she'll carry with her this philosophy: "Life is a gift a day at a time, in fact, minutes at a time."