85-Year Old Woman Still On The Job After 68 Years

GEORGETOWN, De-For most people, 68 years on the job would mean taking a lot of sick time and vacation time throughout your career. But for one woman, Connie Dick who works at Troop 4 in Georgetown, she's only taken off 30 sick days in 68 years. 

She says there's no secret to how she's stayed on the job for so long, but she says her colleagues have a lot to do with it. 

"It's just one of those things where you get started and you go on and on and on," she said. "When you keep meeting new people all the time, because it keeps changing, I don't know I just, the atmosphere I guess is a lot to do with it, and the people you work around."

Connie began her career at Delaware State Police almost seven decades ago at the age of seventeen. Her late husband even worked as a Troop Commander at Troop 4. Like many others, Connie says he even wanted her to retire, but she kept on working. 

Many say Connie is the glue that holds Troop 4 together, and she embodies everything Delaware State Police stands for. 

"I started with a manual typewriter in 1951, and then we went to electric typewriters and then we came to computers in the 80s," she said. When asked what all has changed over the years, "Just about everything," she said with a chuckle.

A car accident and a surgery are some of the only things that have kept Connie away from Troop 4 over the years. To her, working is a standard. "It's just like you do, you get up, put your clothes on and go to work don't ya?" she said.

But still, 30 sick days in 68 years is something many say should be recognized. She's even been named an honorary trooper by DSP in the past. Commander Rodney Layfield says everyone at Troop 4 loves coming to Connie's office. "You go down there to drop something off and you feel obligated to spend a little more time," he said.

"You find yourself talking for ten or fifteen minutes about something because she's attractive. She wants to engage in conversation."

Connie says if she stays healthy, she plans on going for seventy years on the job.

"I just go from day to day as long as I stay well, and feel like doing it."

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