Some folks don’t need to stray far from home to find everything they need. Some don’t even stray from their chosen profession. For Mildred Heath, 100, home has always been south-central Nebraska. Work has been journalism ever since she was 15. And life has been, and still is, good.

The Overton, Nebraska, resident was recently honored as America’s Oldest Worker for 2008 by Experience Works, a provider of training and employment services for older workers. That’s because Heath still works, putting in 30 hours a week at the Beacon-Observer in Overton.

Born not far away, in the town of Curtis, Heath wrote during some of the most dramatic times in history—the Depression, the Dust Bowl, and World War II, not to mention floods and blizzards—for the small papers she and her husband either worked at or owned. Today, her paper—the Beacon-Observer—covers news and events going on in a 10-town radius. They leave the national news for the bigger guys.

She started working while in high school, at her hometown newspaper alongside her boyfriend, Blair Heath. After graduating high school in 1927, she married Blair, and two years later, the couple bought the Farnam Echo. (Here are the two on a fishing trip in 1928.)

In 1938, they moved to Overton and founded the Overton Observer. In 1948, they purchased the Elm Creek Beacon and later combined the two papers.

Over the years, the venture became a family affair, as the couple’s three daughters were raised in the business. One daughter’s future husband became a journalist because of Heath. Norm Taylor told Experience Works, “I kept coming around to date their daughter Polly, but Mrs. Heath put me to work instead.” He became a writer for the Beacon-Observer, married Polly, and the couple eventually bought the newspaper. Three generations of family members have carried on the business. Taylor is the paper’s editor and publisher; Heath’s granddaughter Gail Johnson is associate editor. Heath’s title is Overton Correspondent. “I do social news, that sort of thing,” she said. It’s a good place for someone who loves being in contact with people as much as she does.

It’s a lot easier these days to put out a paper than it was when she started. “It’s so different,” she said. “We used to work so hard running Linotype machines and all the old presses.” Photos would have to be sent out to be prepared for publication. Now, because of computers, “what we struggled with for a week” can be done in a day, she said. There were no specialists in advertising or classified ads, and though she worked more on writing stories, back then you did it all. “Sometimes I put the paper out alone,” she said, as when her husband was ill. “I just did whatever had to be done.”

Though it couldn’t have been easy at the time—and she says simply, “It wasn’t easy”—Heath brushes over the early days. “We went through the Dust Bowl just fine,” she says. “I’m very conservative, and if I didn’t have something, I just went without.” She thinks it’s “just terrible” that young people “throw out good food.” “If we got into times like we had then, people [today] would hurt because they wouldn’t know how to save,” she said. “I didn’t have any problem that way at all. We didn’t go in debt very much.”

During World War II, “we were very busy,” she remembered. They sent the paper to veterans, so she wrote stories about the war and kept up with the vets. In addition, “My husband went to three different towns and helped with work there, because there were no men there at the time. We were very active.”

The Beacon-Observer covers news happening in surrounding small towns, which don’t have their own papers. People know to call her, and she encourages folks to write out their news and send it in. As for her, “I never leave the house without a pad and pencil.” She even kept it handy at a gathering to celebrate her 100th birthday in January, so she could collect news for the paper’s next issue. She also answers the phone and files photos.

When asked her thoughts about the future of newspapers, she said, “I think small-town papers will hang in there for a long time. I think the dailies are having a struggle because you can get the news every day on television. By the time the paper comes out, you already have the news. We [her paper] seem to be able to hold our own.”

She has helped her town of around 660 residents in other ways besides getting the news out. Over the years, she was part of efforts to start the Overton Community Center, a library, a sewer system, and the daily meals now served at the Overton Community Senior Center, where she is secretary of the board of directors. She’s active in the United Methodist Women, American Legion, Daughters of the American Revolution, and the National Rifle Association.

How tired doesn’t she get? The day before she left for Washington, D.C., to receive her award, on a Sunday, she enjoyed a big family reunion. From Monday through Friday, “We kept real busy” in Washington, she said. “We didn’t have time to rest during the day.” The next day, Saturday, she attended a wedding.

“I feel great,” she said. “I went all week without one bit of trouble. But I’m used to working all day. Sometimes I rest when I get home, sometimes I don’t.” She says she has “awfully good hearing, good teeth, and perfect vision.” She does wear glasses for work, but just to keep her eyes from getting tired. And she commutes one block to work on an electric scooter, to compensate for breaking her hip six years ago.

Heath has survived her husband and daughters. She has four grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandchild. She says she tends to think ahead and doesn’t have time to look back. “I really keep busy,” she said.
 
Has she ever thought about another line of work? “Oh no. I just like the work I’m doing. I love people and with this work, I have contact with people.”

As Taylor told the Omaha World-Herald, “Her work is what keeps her vibrant. There’s not a bashful bone in her body.”

Enjoy this interview with Mildred!