Iron Woman Retires After 73 Years at Macy’s

Ordinary people do extraordinary things.

Have you ever heard of Rose Syracuse? Actually, it’s possible you have, because Syracuse has been receiving her fair share of press lately.

If you’re a baseball fan, you know about so-called “iron men.” Lou Gehrig had that nickname for playing in more consecutive games than any other player of his era. Cal Ripken became the iron man of a later era by breaking Gehrig’s record.

Iron men, make way for the iron woman.

Rose Syracuse retired two weeks ago after a long, distinguished career at Macy’s.

For most people, Syracuse’s career would be more like two careers. Or three.

Syracuse worked at Macy’s in New York City for 73 years before calling it quits this month after suffering a broken hip earlier this year. Even after seven decades on the job, she said she’d be continuing on at Macy’s if not for her bad luck. “If I didn’t break my hip, I would still be there,” ABC News quotes her as saying.

Looking back at the start of her long career in 1939, Syracuse said, “When I was 17, I graduated high school and the first thing I did was I went to Macy’s for a job and it worked.” It worked so well – and presumably so did she – that she never left. Rose Syracuse spent her entire career working at Macy’s flagship store in Manhattan. According to AOL, by the time she retired she was the longest serving employee in the 164-year history of Macy’s.

It’s hard to believe she was an employee for nearly half of Macy’s existence.

According to her supervisors, it was Syracuse’s positive attitude and taste for hard work that kept her on the job for so many years. Macy’s CEO, Terry Lundgren, who celebrated Syracuse’s achievements earlier this month at her Manhattan store, said, “For us to be able to say that we’ve had anyone work for our company for 73 years is just a milestone that will never again be repeated.”

With all her years on the job coming to a halt because of her broken hip, you may think Syracuse is resentful or fearful of the future. The reality, though, is that she’s gone through many transitions before, keeping a positive outlook whether getting shifted from one department to another or having to deal with entirely new lines of goods. In recent years, she worked on projects for special events like the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

She even had the honor of being one of two people chosen to cut the ribbon at the parade in 2009.

Even in retirement, Syracuse, now 93, intends to remain loyal to the company she served as an employee for so long. Although she won’t be clocking in any longer, “I don’t shop any place else,” she told the New York Daily News. “I’m still a customer.”

If you’d like to stay on the job as long as Rose Syracuse did – or if you’re just working part-time to stay active – chances are you won’t want to depend on Original Medicare alone. Give MedicareMall a call and we’ll be glad to answer any questions you may have about Medicare supplement insurance or Medicare Advantage Plans.

Are there any iron men or iron women you’d like to recognize? Leave a comment letting us know!