37 years and counting

While many things have changed at the Hi-Line Retirement Center over the years it has sat next to the Phillips County Hospital, including the center’s name, one thing has remained constant; Darl Crowder.

“November 12, 1979, that’s the day I started working at what was then the Good Samaritan,” Crowder told the PCN last week. “I worked from 11 o’clock at night to 7 in the morning, but I only did two shifts a week because we had our own business.”

The “we” Crowder alludes to is her husband of 56 years, William, as the couple ran Bill's Refrigeration and Air Conditioning which was founded in 1962 with Darl running the company’s office. Crowder also worked at the local telephone office in Malta “before it went dial” in 1965

At the Good Sam, Crowder worked as a nurse’s assistant (and would become a CNA in 1981) and started at the center when her eldest son left for college and she took on the new job to help him with the cost of schooling. A few days before the Good Sam opened, Darl was part of a team who helped move the residents from the old location (now Malta Head Start on 9th St. W.) to the new building near the hospital.

“I had a lot to learn,” Crowder said. “By the time we had everyone moved, it was about 60 people. I have never worked fulltime, just two shifts a week … if I had worked there all this time fulltime, I would probably be living over there in a room.”

This Saturday, November 12, will mark the 37th year Crowder has worked at the retirement center, though Crowder won’t be there that day as her shifts are strictly Sundays and Mondays, working from 4 p.m. until 9 p.m. Crowder admits that when she started at the center, she had no idea she would continue to work there as long as she had. Crowder, who is now older and wiser than she was when she started, has a stock answer she gives when asked about why she continues to work at the HLRC.

“Because I feel good and it’s good for me,” Crowder said. “I will continue to work as long as I am doing okay and can work those two short shifts. I think it’s good for me. I am way older than some of the people I take care of and have been for a long time. I have always been grateful to have this part-time job.”

Crowder said that upgraded medical equipment has helped her in her longevity at the HLRC – one person can do the work of three now as far as lifting and moving folks – and said she has seen many of her friends come and go at the center. Crowder said that her one regret over the past 37 years is that she didn’t start taking notes about her experiences at the retirement center.

“I have worked with so many people and I wish I would have kept a book and written down all the resident’s names and all the names of the people I have worked with,” she said. “It’s hard to remember who everyone is and I regret not keeping better notes about who I worked with and who has lived here. You don’t think about that until it is too late.”

When not at the HLRC, Crowder can also be seen delivering coffee two days per week at her “free-be” job for her daughter, Darla Niebur, owner of Darla’s 3 Sisters in Malta.

“It’s very enjoyable,” Crowder said. “She’s a good boss and I am happy to help her out and it's good for me.”