At 98, retirement beckons — but Jumel might ignore it

Dorothy “Dickie” Jumel, at 98 years old, worked her last day on Saturday.

Or did she?

“I could never stop. Never. Never. Never,” she said adamantly. “I never take the last break.”

Jumel was honored with a farewell party at Super Supplements in Coeur d’Alene, where she had worked about 18 years. Friends, coworkers and admirers stopped by to thank her and wish her well.

Jenny Weerheim of Sandpoint was among them. She recalled meeting Jumel for the first time about 20 years ago at a summer solstice celebration.

She said Jumel had her arm in a sling and was dancing joyously around a fire.

“Who is this lady?” Weerheim asked.

When she found out Jumel was in her late 70s, she was stunned.

“She had more life in her than most 20-year-olds,” Weerheim said.

The two became friends.

“She’s such a neat lady. I feel blessed to know her,” Weerheim said. “She’s just so inspirational.”

On Saturday, she asked Jumel what she planned to do now that she wasn’t going to hold down a job.

“I have the time and the freedom to travel,” Jumel said.

But Monday, she was rethinking retirement. She said she was considering job options, hopefully in the health field, which she considers her area of expertise.

“Oh, I’ll be working,” she said while sitting in the living room of her Hayden home.

When asked what she would like to do next, she said, “I’ll do the same thing. That’s what I came for.”

While some have urged her to stop working and just take life easy, Jumel shakes her head. She is spirited and confident, her eyes wide open as she recounts stories from her life.

“Never, not me,” she said. “I work.”

When people have told her over the years she should retire, her answer was the same: “Why?”

She can’t knit sweaters, she said, laughing, because she’s too busy to do the sleeves.

No, her desire is to use her knowledge to help others have good health.

“You have to choose what you want to do,” she said. “Will. You’ve got will. You came in with will. What are you doing with it?”

Jumel has worked in nutrition for nearly seven decades, including running health offices in California.

She’s a strong believer in the supplements she has sold and said they will cure what ails you.

Whether it be heart, eyes, ears or legs, Jumel is confident she has helped people improve their health through her experiences.

“I know stuff because I put people in business all over the world,” she said, adding she gave lectures in Egypt and Israel.

Jumel said she’ll miss her coworkers at Super Supplements, who paid tribute to her with good words, food and drink.

“We are family,” she said. “It was wonderful working with them. It was a wonderful career.”

She was dedicated to her job. She recounted a story about driving to work one cold winter morning, snow and ice all around.

“I was the only one on the highway — the only one,” she said.

Some of her best and most loyal customers, including veterans, asked her, “You aren’t going to leave me, are you?”

“I say, ‘No, I’ll never leave you,’” Jumel said.

So, the million-dollar question, what’s the key to her success?

For Jumel, science, faith, diet and exercise all have a place in her routine. Meditation and walks and drinking water are part of life’s elixir.

“We’re supposed to come here and be happy, gay, throwing out the love and the wisdom,” she said.

She repeats that to be sure her point is clear: love and wisdom for those she meets. Send out good vibes to counter the negative.

“That’s it,” Jumel said. “The ones that are good, the ones that are part way, the ones that hate you — you just give that love.”