Elisabeth Davis(NEW YORK) — Elisabeth Davis may be 99 years old, but nothing is slowing her down.
The elderly whippersnapper still reports to school every day, celebrating her 80th “workiversary” this year as the secretary for Culver Academies, a prep school in Culver, Indiana.
She’s been with the school since 1936, has her very own little office, and still uses a typewriter and good old fashioned penmanship to complete her tasks.
“I started because a relative of mine was working in admissions under Colonel Henderson and they needed some help,” Davis told ABC News of why she applied for the job eight decades ago. “I had graduated from high school and didn’t have money enough to go to college.”
And so began her successful career at Culver, where she’s cherished by faculty and students. The feeling is mutual, though. Davis adores coming to Culver each day because it helps keep her occupied and keeps her loneliness at bay after the passing of her husband, Eldon, in 2004.
“I’m happy because after my husband passed away, at home I’m all by myself, and during the day I’m here with people and they say I’m doing a good job,” she explained.
Davis is in charge of each faculty member’s personal file, keeping close track of their achievements and accolades over the years, meticulously updating the records with her beautifully handwritten strokes. She stresses the importance of keeping hard copies of everything.
“I’m just continuing what someone started at the beginning of school, and I just took over when they left,” she said of her day-to-day duties. “I realize that you always need one hard copy because you could lose it.”
And as for her gorgeous penmanship that she is often complimented on?
“I had penmanship in school through the eighth grade and then when I started the work I addressed envelopes for the catalogs that were mailed,” she explained. “We didn’t type it. We addressed them in penmanship.”
“There’s just something nice about that for the alumni to come back and see that hard copy, to pull their file from 20 years ago and see her handwriting,” said Bill Hargraves, the director of strategic communications at Culver Academies.
She does still love her typewriter, though. Culver even has to special order the parts to keep it running.
“I didn’t plan to be here that long and they made all these changes, and I can do what I have to do on the typewriter,” Davis said of never making the upgrade to a computer.
Davis still lives independently in her home. She and another employee carpool to and from school every single day together.
“She only lives about two miles from me,” said Davis. “She picks me up every morning and takes me home at night. I don’t do much driving anymore. It’s not safe for me to be out there on the road anymore.”
She has no plans to retire any time soon and still works harder than ever.
“The academy has been good to me and I try the best that I can,” Davis said.
More than anything, “I’m just blessed with another day to do what I can do,” she added.
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