By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
The figures don’t lie.
This is Wilfred Kreutzer’s favorite saying.
So here are the figures on Wilfred Kreutzer.
He is 86 years old, 87 in another month.
He started work at S&W Supply in Hays in 1954 at the age of 24 in the bookkeeping department. That is 63 years ago — more than 22,000 days of service.
Most people start thinking about retirement at about age 65, but Kreutzer said the time was just not right for him.
After his wife died, he said he needed something to keep him going, so he kept working.
Kreutzer thought bookkeeping might be in his future during high school. He took many math courses and enjoyed them.
Kreutzer served int he U.S. Army from 1952 to 1954 during the Korean War. He was stationed in Germany and worked doing office duties in a message center.
He still wears a red shirt every Friday, including his last day this Friday, to honor service men and women. Many of his co-workers joined him in wearing red on his last day in honor of his service.
When he was discharged from the Army, he returned to Hays where he was born and raised.
He attended an open house at S&W and was hired shortly after by the company’s president.
S&W Supply has its own long history.
Established during the “Dust Bowl” and “The Great Depression” by Claude Sutter and his wife Helen (Bickle) Sutter, the original company that would become S&W Supply started out small, selling a limited number of automotive parts, according to their website.
Even with the state of the economy, their business grew and Claude Sutter moved it to Hays.
The city offered them a more central location for sales within northwest Kansas.
He was then joined by Don Wells and his, wife Lyle (Bickle) Wells, and this new partnership (Sutter & Wells) is where the current company received its namesake of S&W Supply.
In 1954 S&W Supply moved to the current location at 300 E. Eighth St. in Hays.
Besides the Army and a brief stint in construction when he was young, Kreutzer has had no other job in his lifetime.
The people and the camaraderie he found at S&W Supply has been what has kept Kreutzer coming back all these years.
“I get to be amongst people in a good office. That is why I am still here,” he said.
Kreutzer also praised the great management and the good benefits for his longevity.
Management returned the compliment.
Don Bickle Sr., 89, one of the S &W owners and who is still an active employee, said of Kreutzer ’s character, “Wilfred is the most loyal, honest man I’ve ever known.”
Bookkeeping has changed much since Kreutzer began his job. When he started, he was doing the books long hand with adding machines, then calculators and then computers.
“I flowed right into it, one step at a time,” he said. “I came right on up to date that way.”
Kreutzer said he knows he will miss work and his friends and S&W Supply, but it is time to move on to other things.
He hopes to spend some time vacationing, fishing and working on the lawn and his home.
Kreutzer’s co-workers said he will be missed.
Kreutzer has two nieces and a nephew who are also all long-time employees of the same company.
Jay Weigel, nephew has worked at the company for 41 years. Nieces Debbie Casper and Coy Wasinger have worked with the company for 28 and 27 years respectively.
Jay, who works in IT, has sat next to his uncle for more than 40 years. Kreutzer is family, but the whole office is like family, Jay said, and that is why people tend to stay so long.
“It is a great place to work,” Jay said. “They have good benefits, and it is more like a family.”
Jan Stauth, office manager, said Kreutzer has been a great asset to the company.
“He has taught me a ton,” she said. “He still does things the old school way. He still does books by hand.”
Stauth continued, “It is so incredible. It is a major milestone. Not many people ever hit that.”