Dexter’s Frieda Young, 98 years young, brings a smile to all she meets

Friday, February 1, 2019
Frieda Young sits at the auxiliary desk at SoutheastHealth of Stoddard County.
Josh Ayers

DEXTER, Mo. — Everyone who goes to a hospital is likely to have a certain amount apprehension. Whether you are paying a bill, having a medical test or visiting someone who is a patient you can feel it a little. But if you visit SoutheastHealth of Stoddard County in Dexter on Tuesday afternoons a friendly smile will greet you and ease that tension.

That smile belongs to hospital auxiliary member Frieda Young, who is 98 years young. Young has lived in the Stoddard County area all hr life. She was born near the community of Poe.

Young says according to what she has been told, she was never home growing up, she was always staying the night with a friend. Young’s mother passed away at the age of 33.

“My dad made a boy out of me almost,” said Young. “When he went hunting, I went hunting. When he broke ground, I went with him to break ground.”

She explained that her father put a little wooded box between the handles of the plow that she sat on as a small child. She isn’t sure how he didn’t spill her when he got to the end of a row and had to turn.

“If he ever spilled me they (her parents) didn’t tell it,” she laughed.

She and her husband Gordon “Dick” Young moved to Dexter in 1979. they lived on 13 acres of land just outside of Dexter. Her husband drove a gas truck for Saveway Petroleum. They had four children including a set of twin boys. Young said she didn’t work at first when the children were just starting school. After the youngest child started school that would change. Young was approached by Gene Estes.

“He said to me, would you want a job?” Young said. “I said well I don’t know. Why?”

Young said he went on to say he had been talking to Thurston (former Dexter Schools Superintendent Thurston Hill) and he said he would give you a job if she wanted. Young asked Estes’ his opinion on the job offer and he told her she should do what she wanted.

“I didn’t know what I wanted to do,” laughed Young. “I’d never thought about getting a job.”

So young went to work as a cook for the Dexter School system. There she worked happy and content for about ten years. Young never thought about switching jobs until a man visited the school and asked for her by name.

“Salesmen were always coming in and this, that and the other,” said Young. “I didn’t pay any attention.”

One of the other women in the kitchen told Young the man wanted to see her.

“I thought, now what have I done,” Young recalled. “I was always into something.”

Although Young could not recall the man’s name she stated he was with DAEOC. Young said she had heard of DAEOC but was not real familiar it. The man offered her job covering the southern half of Stoddard County for them. He told her that she had come highly recommended. The job she was offered was to visit families, interview them to determine if they qualified for DAEOC’s assistance programs. She also to fill out the appropriate paperwork while she was there.

“I don’t know anything about it,” she told the visitor. “I was just as green as a goose!”

Young asked if she needed to answer at that time and she was told she could have some time to consider it. After discussing it with her husband she decided to give it a try.

“I knew every pig path in Stoddard County before I got through!” laughed Young.

One interview she asked to go on was a little unnerving. She received a call from her boss one day and he asked how her load was that day. After she responded that it wasn’t too bad. He said he had a job for her. She explained that Stoddard County was divided in half by DAEOC at the time. Young covered the southern half and another lady covered the northern half. However ther were a few places in the northern half of the county the other lady wouldn’t go.

Asked if the other lady was concerned for her safety, Young’s answer again matched her sharp wit.

“I didn’t know, I was green!” Young chuckled. “I didn’t know wht I was getting into.”

Young decided she would do it. She said her boss said he knew she would do it because she was a daredevil. She knew then something was up. He asked her to come to the office in the next hour.

Upon arriving at the office and her boss explained to her that a family needed help from DAEOC. On the way out of the office her boss handed her a blue box. When she opened the box she discovered it contained a gun Young was a little shocked.

“I looked at him and I don’t need that thing,” Young remarked. “He said, you might.”

“He said I think you will be alright,” Young said. “I said you are thinking no knowing.”

Young had said she would do it so she was determined to do it and not back out. She drove to Advance to seek out the family who lived outside of Advance in the country. The family had requested delivery of meals but at that time if the family had any transportation they didn’t qualify for assistance.

It was a misty foggy day and she wasn’t sure how to get to the house. Young stopped at a hardare store for directions. One of the men in the store provided directions and asked her if she knew where she was going. She answered that she didn’t really know. His response was ‘be careful’.

“I thought now wait a minute,” said Young. “Now what am I going to do, I thought about what the boss had said and what this guy had said.”

She decided to stop at the post office to clarify some directions. The post master stopped her on the way out the door and told her if she wasn’t back in an hour he would send the police.

“So that gave me a lot of confidence,” laughed Young.

She wasn’t sure if she wanted to go on, but she gave her word to her boss so she kept going.

“So I thought, well Lord I’m here,” said Young. “You do whatever you need to do.”

Young found her way to the house. She arranged her paperwork that she had to get filled out then she put the gun in her jacket pocket and went in the house. When she went in the door she stated there was a overstuffed chair by the door. She sat on the arm of the chair. The man whom talked was very nice she said. She stated at one point she looked up from her pad and noticed four people peeking into the room from two different doors on either side of the man she was talking to.

The interview went without incident and when she stopped by the post office on the way back she found the post master was true this word. He told her she had five minutes left on the hour he had given her.

The only job she really didn’t like was a short stint at Elders Manufacturing. She decided factory work wasn’t for her.

“I told the boss lady one day when we checking out, find someone to take my place,” she said. “I’m not coming back.”

Young credit Ruby Watson with drawing her to the hospital auxiliary. After her husbands death she said lived by herself and thought he was doing pretty good for herself. Watson called and asked to come to talk to her. Watson asked Young to take over her job putting call boxes in homes for Air Evac. Watson had to give up the job for health reasons.

This job lead Young to the auxiliary. Watson talked her into joining the auxiliary. Although Young wasn’t sure it was for her but Watson assured her it was. After two ears in the auxiliary she was named president for the first time.

“I was green again!” exclaimed Young. “I didn’t know anything about the auxiliary.”

Young would serve as president three times. Young also said at that time everything in the hospital gift shop was hand made by the auxiliary members. There were sewing machines in the hospital basement.

Perhaps the auxiliary fills a little bit of a void for Young. She had always wanted to be a nurse, but let an opportunity slip by her. One day while working for Dr. Floyd Northington he offered her a opportunity to go to nursing school. He offered to pay her tuition if she went and she could pay him back whenever she wanted. She passed on the offer because she had four kids and a husband at home that she felt she needed to take care of.

Young has seen her share of changes as well. When she first became a member of the auxiliary there nearly 200 member. They worked seven days a week, day and night, she said. The gift shop was located where the current registration desk is located. Young said some of the auxiliary got a bug and wanted to move the gift shop and install a cabinet.

“Boy, that took some fast talking,” Young said.

Young said they approached the CEO and eventually received approval from the hospital board for the changes. Young said the auxiliary has always worked hard for the hospital. She in unsure how much money they have raised and put toward items for the hospital.

Young indicated the only place she would like to travel anymore is Texas to see her family. She is very happy in her Dexter home with her little Pomeranian to keep her company.

“The only thing my age bothers me about is I can’t do what I used to,” Young said. “I just don’t have enough strength.”

Young said she doesn’t plan on leaving the auxiliary and she will work at the hospital as long as she is able. She can fondly recall changes in Dexter over the years. She can tell you about businesses that have come and gone, she can tell you when Grant Street was a gravel road. She is happy with her life and the life she has led.

“I hve had a good life, I have loved life,” said Young. “I still love life.”

Respond to this story

Posting a comment requires free registration: