NICK EICHER, HOST: Bob Vollmer walks with a cane these days and he just doesn’t get around as quickly as he used to.
He’s a surveyor for the Indiana Department of Natural Resources and his job requires exhausting statewide travel.
But next month, he’s calling it quits. Vollmer told television station WXIN—his body is finally telling him it’s time to retire.
VOLLMER: The time comes when, heck, you have to hang it up.
You do, yep, but what a run! Vollmer has worked for the state for 58 years!
Now, real-time math here, he’s not taking early retirement at age 62, because he’d have to have started at age four.
So what do you think, 72, 82?
REICHARD: Well, I doubt he started as a teenager, so… 82?
EICHER: Nope, not 82. Not even 92!!
Vollmer the traveling state surveyor is taking retirement at 102 years old!
He started the position after a hitch with the U.S. Navy—during World War II!
VOLLMER: Evidently, I have some pretty good genes.
Yes, pretty good ones! His mother lived to 108!
As for Vollmer’s immediate future, he says he plans to spend his golden years reading and farming. He also plans to take trips to some of the South Pacific islands where he served with the U.S. Navy. A tad more peaceful these days.
It’s The World and Everything in It.
(John Maxwell/ Indiana Department of Natural Resources via AP) This Aug. 2, 2016 photo provided by Indiana Department of Natural Resources shows Bob Vollmer. Vollmer, 102, who is Indiana’s oldest state employee is retiring after nearly six decades on the job, saying that “your body tells you when it’s time to go.”
WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.
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