Audrey Stubbart's 100th birthday is no reason for her to miss work today.
She's having her party and a potluck dinner tonight, after putting in an eight-hour day as a copy editor for The Examiner newspaper in Independence. Her full-time job, she says, is what keeps her going."Work makes me feel like I'm contributing. It gives me self-worth and if you don't have self-worth you don't have anything," Stubbart said Thursday during a break from checking stories for errors.
"I want to be among people who have something to think about, something to do, some plans," she said. "I don't want to be one who has to be taken care of or needs government care."
Stubbart joined the newspaper after the publishing company she was working for made her retire at 65.
"That is the worst economical thing ever done to working people in the United States," she said. "I've had 35 good, productive years of labor since then."
Stubbart, whose husband died nearly 30 years ago, says she has always been in good health and even delivered her five children at home. She doesn't have a doctor or take any medication.
She plans to keep working as long as her health is good.
"My boss said he wished everyone had my work ethic," she said. "I just love work, and I LOVE to find mistakes."
Before coming to Independence in 1944, Stubbart was a schoolteacher in Wyoming. She developed a love of the written word because reading was the only entertainment there. She tries to pass that love on to younger colleagues at The Examiner.
"When they make consistent mistakes, I like to point it out to them. I think they appreciate it," she said. "I get cards from former employees telling me I've helped them. I don't (correct them) in a demeaning or insulting way. They just know I'm an old schoolteacher."
Stubbart's family, friends and co-workers planned several gatherings for her birthday. "Whenever we have one of these birthdays - and you know we've been having them for several years now - she always says to me `Now, this isn't my retirement party, is it?,' " said Publisher Ben Weir.
"I just laugh and say, `No, Audrey, it's just another birthday party.' "
Stubbart can't pinpoint any specific reasons why she has lived for a century. "I never smoked, I never drank and I tried to never tell a lie. The last one is the hardest," she said with a laugh.