Front & Center: At 83, Lois Schulte finds her full-time career a rewarding boredom breaker

At 83, customer-service specialist Lois Schulte is a trendsetter.

During the past decade, the number of Americans 65 and older still working rose more than 60 percent, from 5.6 million to 9.1 million, according to the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics. By 2024, seniors will likely be the fastest-growing segment of the workforce.

Older Americans today are healthier and have a longer life expectancy than previous generations. They’re better educated, which increases their likelihood of staying in the labor force. Changes to Social Security and employee retirement plans, along with meager savings, create incentives for some to keep working.

And, Schulte will tell you, many seniors find retirement boring.

During a recent interview, she discussed pacifying customers, packing lunches and political correctness.

S-R: Where were you born?

Schulte: In a little cabin near White Pass (southeast of Mount Rainier) in 1933.

S-R: Unemployment then was 25 percent. What did your parents do?

Schulte: My dad was a logger at that time, and my mom raised me and my three sisters.

S-R: Where did you grow up?

Schulte: All over the Northwest. I went to eight different grade schools. When the war broke out, Dad drove trucks for a gasoline company. He worked almost round the clock hauling fuel from Pasco to Spokane. One time, he woke up in a wheat field, his truck parallel to the road but not on it.

S-R: Tell me about high school.

Schulte: I went to John Rogers and had a great experience. That’s where I got interested in journalism, and worked on both the student newspaper and the annual.

S-R: Have you stayed in touch with classmates?

Schulte: I’m sorry to say that, at 83, there aren’t many to stay in touch with. I played pinochle with a group of women for 50 years, but most of them are gone, too.

S-R: What was your first job?

Schulte: Working on a wheat ranch out by Ritzville when I was 14. I tended livestock, helped fix meals, took care of children and washed dishes. The days were long, and you couldn’t even see the nearest neighbor’s house. That was only for one summer, thank goodness.

S-R: How about other early jobs?

Schulte: After graduating from high school, I spent one year at Washington State College, and worked in the sports publicity division. Back then, Wazzu was expensive, but Gonzaga was inexpensive if you lived at home. So I came back to Spokane, enrolled at GU – I was one of only five women students – and while working on my degree was also sports publicity director. To my knowledge, I was the first woman in the country to hold that job. My boss, Hank Anderson, had what I would call a prehistoric man cave with two little desks, manual typewriters, a dictionary and a dial phone. The first thing I did was paint the walls and make drapes for the windows.

S-R: What were your official duties?

Schulte: Publicizing GU basketball, which at that time wasn’t well-known. I’d go to the newspapers, radio stations and fledgling TV stations, and give them information about our schedule and which guys were going to be really good. They pretty much published whatever information I fed them.

S-R: Did you earn a degree in journalism?

Schulte: GU did not offer one at that time. My degree was in business administration, and I have yet to write my senior thesis.

S-R: What did you do after graduating?

Schulte: I went to work for KREM-TV – which had just opened – writing jingles and ads, and other fun stuff.

S-R: How long were you there?

Schulte: About 18 months. Then I got a better offer from an ad agency. But I didn’t do that for long, because I’d met my husband, Ray, and it was uncommon for pregnant women to work in an office.

S-R: What else characterized the 1950s workplace?

Schulte: No one cared about political correctness, and sexual harassment wasn’t an issue. If you got pinches, well, so what? Nobody took it all that seriously.

S-R: But you quit to start having children?

Schulte: Yes, indeed, one right after the other. That was my longest job, and the hardest – raising my seven children from 1958 to 1978. When the first one wanted to go to GU – it being a little pricey by then – I went back to work.

S-R: Where?

Schulte: At my husband’s business, Petroleum Equipment. We sold and installed gas pumps. When Ray got cancer in ’95, we closed the business and I took care of him until he died three years later.

S-R: And then you rejoined the workforce?

Schulte: Oh, no. I tried staying home until 2002, but it was really boring.

S-R: How does a then-68-year-old go about getting a job?

Schulte: A friend of mine said, “There’s this insurance company – Safeco – that’s hiring for customer service, and you’d be great at it.” I knew nothing about insurance, so I figured they’d brush me aside. But they hired me.

S-R: When you started there, were you the oldest employee?

Schulte: By far. And I was pretty nervous, being new to the business. But I spent four months in a classroom, and afterward passed the state licensing exam.

S-R: Did you experience any age discrimination?

Schulte: Not at all.

S-R: Have you been pinched?

Schulte: (laugh) No, never. People treat me like a queen. They’re very solicitous, and I have a special parking spot right up front

S-R: How else has the work environment changed?

Schulte: When I joined the company in 2002, we had maybe 500 employees. Liberty Mutual bought Safeco in 2008, and I believe we’re now approaching 2,000 at our Liberty Lake campus.

S-R: What skills learned in previous jobs translated to this one?

Schulte: My life experiences have given me a rapport with people who are experiencing problems. I can relate to what they’re talking about, and do whatever I can to help them get through rough spots. I tell them that if they persevere, things will get better.

S-R: Do you occasionally deal with irate customers?

Schulte: Of course. I let them get their rant out of the way, then explain why the situation is the way it is. Usually it’s caused by their failure to keep their part of the bargain. “Sir,” I’ll say patiently, “you do have to pay your bill in order to have coverage.”

S-R: What’s your schedule?

Schulte: I work from 7:30 in the morning until 6 p.m. four days a week, and have every Friday off. I have a very cushy job.

S-R: Have phone-ins ever commented that you sound more mature than other customer-service representatives?

Schulte: Actually, no.

S-R: Besides your age, how are you different from other employees?

Schulte: Most younger folks don’t have that same feeling of “I’m here to get a job done.” They think they’ve got things pretty well nailed. I am atypical. Another difference: I drink regular coffee, maybe six cups a day, which I bring in an industrial-size Thermos. My younger co-workers prefer sodas or lattes.

S-R: Anything else?

Schulte: We have a nice cafeteria, but I’m so tight I take my lunch every day.

S-R: What do you like most about your job?

Schulte: Gosh, everything. I like being with young people. It keeps me current with what’s going on. And when my 13 grandkids use the latest slang, I know what they’re talking about.

S-R: What do you like least?

Schulte: The old curmudgeons who call. I’m old, but I’m not a curmudgeon.

S-R: Have you ever applied for a job and not gotten it?

Schulte: No, I never have.

S-R: What has this long career taught you about yourself?

Schulte: That my brain is probably my most important asset. People think everybody’s brain ages at the same pace, so you can’t possibly be as sharp when you’re 80 as you were at 40. But in some ways, I’m probably sharper now than I was at 20. I could retire, but I don’t want to. I love what I’m doing, and I’d be bored at home.

S-R: If someone had told you at 23 you’d still be working at 83, how might you have reacted?

Schulte: I would have laughed. I didn’t even expect to be around at 83.

Writer Michael Guilfoil can be reached at mguilfoil@comcast.net.