THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 24, 1995 TAG: 9509200057
SECTION: REAL LIFE PAGE: K2 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: MY JOB
SOURCE: BY MARTY JONES
LENGTH: Medium: 84 lines
IN 1950, Harry Truman was president, the last trolley cars rolled down Norfolk's streets, and Willie Elizabeth Walters began working at Gray's Pharmacy, at 48th and Hampton Boulevard.
Across the street at the Norfolk Division of William and Mary, student enrollment was 1,026, and the campus consisted of a handful of buildings south of 49th street.
Buses have replaced the trolley cars, and the Norfolk Division of William and Mary has become Old Dominion University with a student enrollment 16,500. But Willie Walters is still behind the counter at Gray's, still proudly working away.
She's been there for 45 years running. ``Isn't that awful?'' she says, with a laugh and a grin.
The truth is, Walters, 75, wouldn't have it any other way. ``I like to work,'' she says matter-of-factly, ``and I've been lucky to be able to work as long as I have. I bet there aren't many people that can say they worked somewhere for 45 years.''
Walters, a lean, energetic woman, was a 31-year-old single mother of two when she started working at Gray's in 1950. Two years before, she had moved to Norfolk, with her daughters, sister and aging parents, from her hometown of Pineview, N.C. ``There wasn't much work there,'' she says, ``and I had to take care of my parents.'' Her first job was as a trolley car operator.
When Walters heard of a job opening at Gray's soda fountain, she signed on. It was her first job working with the public, something she was reluctant to do.
``When I started working at Gray's I had a speech problem,'' she says, ``and some people would make fun of how I talked.'' A childhood hearing disorder kept her from hearing and pronouncing words correctly. ``But talking to customers every day helped me overcome it,'' she says, ``and I'm real proud of that. And I'm thankful that the people at Gray's were so patient with me.''
While ODU has changed a great deal, the students have changed little, according to Walters. ``They're all very nice,'' she says with a smile, ``but they do make more noise than they used to.'' Walters, who lives near one of the ODU dorms, has a simple solution to this minor problem. ``I just shut my door and turn down my hearing aid,'' she says, laughing again.
Gray's owner Dave Halla loves Walters' work. ``Willie,'' he says, ``is the perfect example of the perfect employee. She comes in ready to work, she never complains, and she makes working here easier for all of us.''
Bill Gray, the grandson of original Gray's owner D.D. Gray, grew up watching Walters work the old soda fountain. When he became old enough, he too worked at Gray's. ``Willie's enthusiasm,'' he says, ``made working there a real pleasure.''
``When you love your job,'' Walters says, ``work is easy.'' And while she has no plans to quit anytime soon, she had trimmed her hours from 40 to 36 per week. ``I guess that's about right for someone my age,'' she says. ``You know, some people are ashamed of their age, but not me. I'm proud of it. People that worry about getting old, they need to do something to keep young.''
At the entrance of Gray's Pharmacy there's a display case filled with antique bottles of elixirs, inhalants, and ointments. Among the Hamlin's Wizard Oil Linament, Asthmador Cigarettes and Mrs. Winslow's Syrup, there's a small framed photograph of D.D. Gray. On the back of the photograph is a handwritten inscription: ``Willie, I wish that I had words to express what you have meant to me and my store for these years. God bless you.''
``Mr. Gray gave that to me for Christmas in 1971,'' Walters says. ``He was a wonderful man. I told Dave that when I retire, that picture goes with me.
``I've had a wonderful time working here. I've raised two daughters, helped them get an education, and bought a house while working here. It hasn't always been easy and sometimes I had to do without to get by, but I have more today than I ever thought I would have. The day that I quit working here will be one of the saddest of my life.''
Halla hopes that day won't come anytime soon.
``When Willie tells me she wants to retire,'' he says, ``I'm gonna try to talk her out of it. This place just wouldn't be the same without her.'' MEMO: Marty Jones is a freelance writer living in Norfolk. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
GARY C. KNAPP
``I like to work, and I've been lucky to be able to work as long as
I have,'' says Willie Walters, who started her current job with
Gray's Pharmacy 45 years ago.
by CNB