Longtime Goodwill employee Elaine Wenger, 65, hung up her black cloak for the last time on Thursday.
The woman’s retirement after 43 years of hard work at the second-hand retailer capped off a milestone in a life of overcoming barriers.
“Her whole life has been an accomplishment,” her sister Bea Gillis said in an interview aired on CBC Edmonton’s Radio Active on Friday. “She was a child that shouldn’t have lived. She did, with a lot of special care from our parents.”
Overcame odds
Wenger was born with cerebral palsy and had to undergo five complete transfers of blood to survive as a baby, Gillis said.
“Which at that time, was a miracle because of the extent of her cerebral palsy.”
Wenger has trouble walking, has had serious falls, has severe arthritis, and lost her hearing when she was four years old due to measles.
But that didn’t stop her from working her whole life, raising two children, and now, three grandchildren.
“She’s frozen her hands because of waiting for buses to go to work,” Gillis said. “She’s been sick as a dog and never missed work. Very seldom.”
About 30 per cent of Goodwill Alberta’s 800 employees have a self-disclosed disability.
Wenger got her start at the retail chain in 1976, when her first child was two.
“She had a baby and I said, ‘You have a little bean to support … you need to work,'” childhood friend Katherine James said. “I think the next month or three months later, she was working and she’s been working ever since. It speaks a lot to her character. It really does.
“When she found Goodwill, she was in her place.”
Over the years, Wenger worked in various departments, including ironing and merchandising, in Goodwill locations across the Edmonton region. While working at Goodwill, she was able to put herself and her two kids through post-secondary education.
‘Home away from home’
She was a mentor to many of her coworkers, who said she loved baking for staff and giving advice.
“I love my job,” Wenger said, calling her colleagues her family.
“My home away from home. I love them all and I’m going to miss them all,” she said.
Wenger started at the now-closed 104th Street and 103rd Avenue Goodwill. She retired from her job as a merchandiser at the SouthPark location on Calgary Trail.
She hasn’t figured out what she’s going to do in her retirement yet, besides a trip to England, a boat cruise, and spending time with her grandchildren.
And of course, visiting her old colleagues at Goodwill.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said to her coworkers at her farewell party. “We’ll just have to take it one day at a time.”