Where’s 104-year-old Waldo? Still working!

updated 3:57 p.m. ET Nov. 3, 2006

QUINTER, Kan. — Waldo McBurney lives in two worlds: one of buggies and hitching posts — and the other of a growing trend of older Americans working longer.

Still spry and agile at 104, McBurney briskly walks most days from home to work in this High Plains farming community, where he raises bees and sells honey.

When McBurney was born on a nearby farm, flying was left to the birds and people communicated by writing letters. A three-mile trip to town in a wagon took a half hour, and working 10 hours a day, six days a week was the norm.

McBurney has worked since he can remember. At age 4 or 5, he gathered eggs from the hens in the old sod house where his parents had lived until shortly before he was born. His first paying job at age 13 was guiding a lead team of horses pulling a wheat thrasher. For that, he was paid 50 cents a day.

"After you finished with the chores, we would light the kerosene lamp and read," he said.

He started gardening on the farm and even now raises fruits and vegetables in his backyard, bending down to pick tomatoes and put them in a pail.

"I like to see things grow, whether it's cats, or calves or tomatoes," said McBurney, his hands steady and his grip strong.

Award winner
In October, Experience Works gave McBurney its "America's Oldest Worker for 2006" award at a ceremony in Washington.

"He may not be the oldest worker but he is up there and definitely outstanding," said Cynthia Metzler, president of the national group, which provides training and employment for the senior citizens.

Metzler called McBurney "a real role model for all of us" at a time when Americans are working longer.

"People are living longer and don't have enough money to sustain themselves. Some want to work to remain active," she said.

While it can't be said definitively that McBurney actually is the oldest American working, the odds favor him.

"I can just go about anywhere and be the oldest. The ones my age don't run around that much," said McBurney, with wisps of white hair and weathered face and hands.

Sign erected
The United States has an estimated 77,770 centenarians, about 0.026 percent of the population. The average American life span is 77.9 years.

After McBurney's award, the town erected a sign near his office: "Congratulations, Waldo. America's Oldest Worker."

"I never considered myself a great character. They are testing my humility," he said.

Those who know McBurney say he's indeed a humble man who believes in helping his neighbor.

"He doesn't think he's more special than anyone else. I don't know if I've heard a negative word out of his mouth," said Laura Kesler, vice president of KansasLand Bank. "He always looks at the positive side, and that's probably why he's lived as long as he has."

For McBurney, work is good.

"I'm not a strong believer in retirement. I don't think retirement is in the Bible. Maybe it's there, but I haven't found it," he said.

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