92-Year-Old Woman Refuses to Stop Even Decades After Retiring, Works 5 Days a Week and Remains Active as an Inspiration in Louisville

Written by Romário Pereira de Carvalho

Published on 25/01/2026 at 11:24

Imagem: Reprodução / WDRB

312 people reacted to this.

At 92 Years Old, Retired Phlebotomist Maintains Active Routine in Louisville, Working Five Days a Week, Creating Lasting Bonds with Patients, Colleagues, and Reinforcing the Human Value in the Healthcare Environment

At 92 years old, Lillie Gilliam works five days a week in Louisville, after retiring nearly three decades ago, demonstrating why she remains active in primary care at UofL Health. The data in the story comes from an article published in 2025 by WDRB.

Education and Start of the Elderly Woman’s Career

Gilliam studied at Nazareth College, now Spalding University, to become a laboratory technician, building a path that predates her retirement three decades ago.

She retired but continues to work five days a week, a reality that challenges expectations about rest, travel, and routine after the end of formal career.

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW

Role at UofL Health

For 25 years, Gilliam has worked as a phlebotomist at UofL Health, a role performed in primary care, initially planned to last only a few days.

Those few days turned into years, totaling 25 years in the same building, after about 20 years working for another physician.

The routine includes blood draws, support for laboratory test requests, and reception duties, tasks spread throughout a typical day.

Bond with Patients and Colleagues

Gilliam credits her colleagues for her daily energy, stating that they keep her young and teach her how to use the computer.

With frequent patients, the bond is strong, to the point that concerns arise when she is absent, even after improvised notice on site.

On one occasion, colleagues displayed a sign indicating vacation, but patients kept checking, an episode that Gilliam recalls with laughter.

Gifts received over the years decorate her office, reinforcing an environment of shared joy and daily recognition among colleagues.

Motivations and Continuity of Work of the Elderly Woman

Despite the hard work, Gilliam says she stays because she loves her colleagues like family, acknowledging the difficulty of saying a definitive goodbye.

She states that camaraderie keeps her there as long as there is health, opportunity, and the constant presence of colleagues in the environment.

Colleagues reciprocate the affection, highlighting her unusual vitality, as Gilliam approaches her 93rd birthday next June.

Without attributing any secrets, she thanks God and says she finds it rewarding to work, make people happy, and maintain an active daily purpose.

With information from WDRB.

9 Comments

most recent

older Most voted

Maria Ester Sartori

#230254

28/01/2026 11:42

Parabéns! Bonito exemo de força e boa vontade!

Respond

Vladimir Santiago

#229754

27/01/2026 08:54

A matéria não mencionou em que país ela vive. Louisville é uma informação muito vaga.

-3

Respond

Lidia Franco

#231790

Reply to Vladimir Santiago

02/02/2026 00:09

Louisville fica nos Estados Unidos

Respond

Maria Benedita

#229725

27/01/2026 08:01

Que Deus abençoe ela muito em quanto ela puder Deus da forças ela tem muita gente que pode trabalhar mais prefere roubar e matar que Deus abençoe e proteja muito ela

Respond

Paula

#230271

Reply to Maria Benedita

28/01/2026 12:22

Eu tenho 70 anos e ainda trabalho, em casa e on-line também. Fazendo peruca pára-pessoas que fazem quimioterapia.
E sem contar , o prazer de estar em contato com as pessoas . Nós trazem grande satisfação. Envelhecimento o corpo e não a mente!

Respond

92-Year-Old Woman Refuses to Stop Even Decades After Retiring, Works 5 Days a Week and Remains Active as an Inspiration in Louisville

At 92 Years Old, Retired Phlebotomist Maintains Active Routine in Louisville, Working Five Days a Week, Creating Lasting Bonds with Patients, Colleagues, and Reinforcing the Human Value in the Healthcare Environment

Education and Start of the Elderly Woman’s Career

Role at UofL Health

Bond with Patients and Colleagues

Motivations and Continuity of Work of the Elderly Woman

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92-Year-Old Woman Refuses to Stop Even Decades After Retiring, Works 5 Days a Week and Remains Active as an Inspiration in Louisville

At 92 Years Old, Retired Phlebotomist Maintains Active Routine in Louisville, Working Five Days a Week, Creating Lasting Bonds with Patients, Colleagues, and Reinforcing the Human Value in the Healthcare Environment

Education and Start of the Elderly Woman’s Career

Role at UofL Health

Bond with Patients and Colleagues

Motivations and Continuity of Work of the Elderly Woman

Mother and daughter build a 70 m² house with more than 8,000 discarded glass bottles and impress with their creativity; known as the Casa de Sal, the property is located on Itamaracá Island, in Pernambuco.

Workers were opening a new road connection near the Marginal Tietê when they found, in the underground of the construction site, remnants of locomotives, wagons, and boilers from the 19th century linked to the forgotten history of Lapa.

Instead of burning or burying old tires, an American city is transforming about 2,000 of them into the street itself, paving its first sections with a quieter and more durable rubber asphalt.

China transforms desert-devastated area into the world’s largest artificial forest, planting trees for 60 years, blocking sand that reached Beijing, and creating a “green lung” of 92,000 hectares in a region once considered lost.

Greek island offers free housing for volunteers, but there’s a condition: you need to take care of rescued cats.

Engineers want to carve through Africa with a giant canal to bring water from the world’s second-largest river to a dying lake on the edge of the Sahara Desert that has already lost 90% of its water.

China has deployed snake-shaped robots to slide along power lines, where they have already inspected over 130 kilometers of cables using cameras and sensors to detect damaged wires, worn-out parts, and overheating.

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