Working is in the blood of this 85-year-old who once retired for five whole days

Bob O’Brien has worked 67 of his 85 years on this planet, except for a retirement that lasted all of five days.

Even when the pandemic temporarily sidelined his part-time position last year at Biological Specialty in Colmar, O’Brien sat at his kitchen table in Montgomery County and cut thread for his daughter to sew into face masks to donate.

“That is what keeps me going, all the activities that I do,” O’Brien said.

O’Brien works about 15 hours a week, sometimes more, at Biological Specialty, a blood-donor center that collects blood samples for research.

His job?

“Bob is a jack-of-all-trades,” said Anne Mayberry, senior operations manager. “I call him ‘Bob the Builder’ because he can do it all. … There is nothing he can’t do.”

Among his duties is driving throughout the tristate area to make deliveries to pharmaceutical companies. He said he loves interacting with people on those routes. Any of them who happen to be having a bad day is likely to see it turn around once they see O’Brien.

“When I deliver research to Merck and different companies, they don’t talk about what they’re researching, but just say, ‘Hello,’” O’Brien said. “It’s great talking to all the different people.”

O’Brien enrolled in the Coast Guard at age 18, then eventually went on to spend 30 years as a civilian contracting officer for the Air Force, based in Willow Grove. He “retired” at age 60, but it sure didn’t last very long.

“I said, ‘I need to get something part-time,’” he recalled.

And he didn’t waste any time: The day of O’Brien’s retirement luncheon, he left work early and paid a visit to Biological Specialty, located only a block and a half from his house at the time.

“I stopped in to see if they would hire part-time people, and that was it,” he said. “They said they would let me know, and [they] called me within about four or five days.”

And he’s been there ever since.

O’Brien and his wife, Nancy, have been married 64 years — 65 in September — and have four children, who are plenty proud of their dad’s long career.

“He is such a great employee and [has] a work ethic you just don’t hear about,” daughter Sherry Sikora said.

That ethic became apparent once again last March, when COVID-19 kept many away from their usual workplaces, including O’Brien. When he couldn’t sit still, Sikora put him to work. He became her assistant as she made masks to donate to others.

Still, everyone was happy when O’Brien was able to return to Biological Specialty about two weeks later.

“I got to get him out of the house,” his wife quipped, before turning serious. “It’s been a wonderful ride with him, my children, grandchildren, and now my great-grandchildren.”

At this point, O’Brien says retirement is not something he’s contemplating.

“I’m not really ready to retire, to tell you the truth,” he said.

And that’s a good thing, according to his boss.

“Bob is going to be irreplaceable when he retires on me, which I hope is not anytime soon,” said Mayberry. “He’s just so pleasant and will bend over backward if you ask him to do something. I just adore him.”