Phyllis Walter is calico and lathe.

She's 77 and still working - in the same place she started 50 years ago. She's a lathe operator at Coors Tek in Golden. She started when it was called Coors Porcelain.

"I like working," she said.

Coors Tek threw a party for her five years ago. This year, they gave her a $2,500 check and a catalog to choose a gift from, she said.

"I'm looking at a set of kettles," she said. "They're the top of the line, like they use on the cooking shows."

Walter grew up on a farm in Iowa. Her family moved to Sioux City when she was 14.

For Walter, it was culture shock.

"On the farm, we lived in a house without electricity. We hauled our own water. I went to a one-room schoolhouse," she said. "When we moved to the city, I went to a city school. You know how much change that is?"

Right out of high school in 1948, she moved to Lincoln, Neb., where she got a job with the Elgin Watch Co.

"On the lower four floors, they made watches," she said. "On the top two floors, we made timing devices for the Navy."

Elgin closed the plant in 1958.

Walter married and had three children, one of whom still lives nearby.

The marriage went bust. In 1958, she moved to Colorado as a single mom.

"I was only here three days, and I went to work for Coors," she said.

She works five days a week, picking up an overtime shift for a half-day on Saturdays.

"We make things for the space program, and electrical companies and lots of medical. We make car parts," she said. "We make a lot of stuff out of ceramic."

She likes her work. She is master of her machine.

"I love my machines. I set up my own machines. That was one of my goals. They didn't think women could set up machines," she said.

"I don't run any computerized machines. I run the manual lathes. I love that."

She lived in Golden for 41 years, then bought a home in Wheat Ridge.

When she's not working, she likes to go bowling or camping.

She started bowling when she started with Coors. She carries a 119 average, down from her tops at 143.

She doesn't tent-camp anymore.

"I have an 8-foot cabover on my truck," she said.

She leaves the truck home every other year when she goes to a camping convention with her camping club.

She has been to Wisconsin and Iowa, Nebraska and Texas.

"For a while, I quit driving cross-country," she said. "Now, I take my car and stay in a motel."

She used to fish, but gave that up years ago.

"I thought some day I'd like to take it up again when I retire," she said.

So when will she retire?

"I don't know," Walter said. "I like working."

massarog@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5271

Back to Top