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September 26, 2023

Longest-Serving Civilian and Most Trustworthy Lady Who Had Access To Stacks of Cash To Retire

This is just barely relevant to this website but I wanted to share because we're always talking about how stupid it is to put a single person in charge of the money since 9 times out of 10 that person ends up robbing the company blind. But in this case, this lady is honest and awesome:

Payday went like this when Dorothy Rowe first went to work in Air Force finance: She’d drive to the bank and pick up enough cash to cover the base payroll — hundreds of thousands of dollars stacked inside big bags. Back at the office, Rowe would count it to make sure all of the money was there. Then she’d divide it up by base section. Finally, she’d count out the pay for every person on base.

Rowe, 88, went to work as a clerk typist at the Columbus Army Depot in Ohio in 1943, two years before World War II ended and four years before the birth of the modern-day Air Force. She came to Luke Air Force Base, Ariz., as a military pay clerk 10 years later and never left — until now. After 70 years, Rowe said she figures it’s time to retire.

Rowe, who worked her way up to financial analysis chief of the 56th Comptroller squadron, is the Air Force’s longest-serving civil servant.

Can you guys even imagine one payroll clerk nowadays having that kind of access to cash? We've all read the stories, that never ends well.

“I’ll miss the people. I’ll miss coming to work every day,” Rowe said in an Air Force Times interview.

Rowe always wanted to be an accountant. In 1942, military representatives showed up at her high school and gave tests to all the juniors and seniors, she said.

Thank you for your service and for not being an asshole, Dorothy. Legit.

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