There’s something to be said for a lifelong career in a profession you can still find joy in doing every day. That kind of loyalty and dedication can be hard to come by these days, but it’s not completely unheard of.

Bobby Childers has worked at The Vicksburg Post for 63 years and has no plans to retire.

“I was always told if you got a job you like, don’t change,” Childers said.

Currently Childers is in charge of maintenance at Post Plaza. It is his responsibility to take care of the building, whether it’s the air conditioning, plumbing, electrical work, door locks, lighting, tile or making sure the property is clean. The 83-year-old is part-time, working about five hours a day, five days a week.

“When I first come into the newspaper businesses I liked it, and I enjoyed it, and so I just haven’t had no desire to retire,” Childers said. “My health is good, nothing’s wrong with me and they keep me on.”

Childers came to the Post right out of high school in 1950 and worked for three months before leaving to serve in the National Guard during the Korean War. After two years of service Childers came back to the Post and hasn’t left again since.

“I’ve done a little bit of everything over the years,” Childers said.

He’s worked in multiple areas of the newspaper production process. Page composition was one of his first responsibilities. Childers was part of a group of people who worked on the layout of the editorial pages.

“I wasn’t a newsperson, I didn’t go out and get stories, but I put the pages together,” Childers said.

About seven years into Childers’ career, technology started changing the landscape of the newspaper with the hot metal paste up method of using film and aluminum plates. Some people refer to that time as the good ole days, but Childers said when it comes to printing the good days are here presently.

Next, Childers worked in what is today called creative services. In this position he worked on the layout and composition of advertisements. After, he moved on to the pressroom for the bulk of his career. Childers spent 40 years in the pressroom, and for 35 of those years was the supervisor.

There were also two years in the mid-90s where Childers took on additional responsibilities when he took over maintaining the computer system as the news office moved to its current location.

When the 1953 tornado spun its way down Washington Street, Childers was at work in the Post’s newsroom on the corner of South and Cherry streets. They heard the roaring wind and rain and lost power as the storm devastated downtown Vicksburg just three blocks away.

“We had to have power to run the press,” Childers said. “It was hectic.”

Power was restored around 6 a.m. the next day and they worked around the clock by candlelight to make sure a paper was produced, if only a little behind schedule. The Post received a Pulitzer Prize for its efforts.

“We continued working and got the paper out that night, well, about 7 a.m. the next morning,” Childers said. “We were supposed to get it out about midnight.”

Cars were piled on top of each other, and Childers still being a part of the National Guard was asked to stand guard at the damaged building to discourage looters from taking advantage.

“The apartment me and my wife lived in, we lost the roof off it,” Childers said.

His family has expanded over the years, and he has been raising two great grandchildren for the past 14 years. His goal was to work until they graduated high school, and it looks like he will succeed in that endeavor. His great grandson graduated last year, and his great granddaughter skipped 11th grade and will be graduating at the end of this school year.