By all accounts, Melba Mebane was not about to retire. Not at 65. Not at 75. Not even at 90. But last spring, after 74 years of clocking in at the same department store, she finally retired, not because she burned out or lost her passion, but for something much more mundane: traffic.
“It was just too much,” Melba explained bluntly. “I came home one day, put my keys on the table, looked at my son, and said, ‘I’m done.'”
It was a quiet end to an iconic run.
From elevator girl at 17 in 1949 to cosmetics counter queen, Melba worked nearly her entire life in the same department store in Tyler, Texas, first opening at Mayer & Schmidt, then at Dillard’s, when the company acquired the store in 1956.
She was 17 when she first entered the door, having no idea what the future held in the position. She was 90 when she finally exited, after building the kind of career most of us can only wish for, one of purpose, lifelong friendships, and not even a letter of resignation.
So what kept her going for so long? The answer, it seems, is pleasingly simple and somewhat unexpected.
From Elevators to Eye Cream
Melba’s professional life started with a ding. Literally. As an “elevator girl,” the job of running the department store elevator, shuttling shoppers up and down between floors in pre-automation times, was her initial duty.
But her journey didn’t stop there at the buttons. She got to the men’s department and ended up at the cosmetics counter, where she settled in for decades.
She did not just sell products. She sold smiles, stories, and the occasional gift basket nobody else could get rid of.
“There were these baskets that one of the girls just couldn’t sell,” Melba recalled in the interview. “They asked me to try so I came out from behind the counter, chatted with people, and sold all of them.”
That small act of initiative quietly set the tone for her entire career. She wasn’t grasping for promotions and ascending ladders. She was simply good at what she did, and she really loved doing it.
A Job That Was a Second Life
To Melba and her son Terry, the store was not just a job; it was a second home. A second life, actually. Melba managed child-raising and full-time employment as a single mother.
She was working 40 or more hours a week, most evenings until the store closed at 9 p.m. Her son remembers going into the store as a child, watching his mother work, and playing in the mall until closing time.
“It wasn’t just a job to her,” said Terry, who is now 60. “The people at Dillard’s became our family.”
That camaraderie was mutual. When Dillard’s founder William T. Dillard visited the Tyler store with his children, Melba was typically the one looking after his little daughter, Drue. They’d window shop, munch on popcorn, and while away the time like long-time friends.
Years later, the same little girl, now an executive vice president at Dillard’s, visited Melba’s retirement party to celebrate a friendship that had lasted over 60 years.
6 A.M. Coffee and One Favorite Parking Spot
Melba’s workdays followed a pattern that seldom varied.
She’d rise at 6 a.m., brew a cup of coffee, prepare sausage and biscuits, and run a few errands before arriving at the store at 9 a.m. sharp, in time to claim her favorite parking place.
She rode the same route for 74 years, a level of continuity that’s near mythical in these days of job-hopping and burnout. And the craziest thing? She adored it. “I liked coming into work each day,” she stated.
“If you like what you’re doing, why would you retire from it?”
Her attendance record is also impressive. Melba never missed a shift except when she was really sick, a matter of pride she took in unspoken respect.
Why She Said No to Management (Again and Again)
Over the years, Melba had many chances to be promoted. There were promotion opportunities coming her way, managerial roles open in front of her, but she turned them down every time.
“Management has to make the hard choices,” she smiled. “No one likes management. I got along with my co-workers, and I did not want to lose them.”
That was not an option because of a lack of ambition or fear. It was an issue of clarity. Melba was clear about what she loved, and she put everything she had into it. She was building life. One warm customer interaction at a time.
The Secret to Never Hating Your Job
Melba’s philosophy of work is this: Never take a job simply because it pays well. “Money can let you down,” she said.
“Being good at something and enjoying the people you work with is so much more important.”
To her, the real secret to job satisfaction was investing in the people around her. The coworkers she laughed with. The customers she worked with. The managers she admired. Those individuals not only make the job tolerable; they make the job enjoyable.
And because she was that popular and highly regarded, those friendships paid dividends that you don’t get on a paycheck.
When Melba considered retiring at age 65, Mr. Dillard himself came to her with an offer: Stay as long as you’d like, and we’ll make it work.
So she stayed, but on her own terms. No nights. No Sundays. She even bargained later for softer carpeting in the back of the cosmetics counter so that standing all day wouldn’t be so hard on her legs. “That was a game changer,” said Terry.
A Legacy That Still Rings Through the Aisles
Even in retirement, Melba hasn’t fully departed from Dillard’s. She now lives in a Tyler retirement village, where past colleagues visit her regularly. Some take her out to lunch.
Others phone every week just to check in and see how she is doing. Her legacy lives on, not just in the store, but in the lives of those who worked with her for so many years.
Terry has the women who continue to work at the cosmetics counter calling his mother in shifts, like clockwork, to check on her to see if she’s alright.
Her grandchildren and great-grandchildren come to visit her regularly, and Melba keeps herself busy with family, friends, and trips to the movies or shopping.
She’s still with others. Still engaged with the store in significant ways.
A Life Well Worked
In a time when commitment in the workplace is an exception and quiet quitting is a TikTok trend, Melba Mebane is an oxymoron, and maybe a reminder of something we’ve lost.
Work does not have to be soul-sucking. It does not have to be dramatic. It does not have to be awful. Sometimes it can just be good. Dependable. Pleasant.
In the end, it wasn’t the title, or the salary, or even the flexibility that kept Melba coming back again and again. It was the people. The mission. The carpeted floor and the popcorn trips.
And maybe, just maybe, that is the real key to never hating your job.
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