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 Gibbs retired as the office manager for the family-owned business
that helped put Mount Pulaski on the map. Her last official day on
the job was December 23, 2015. “I’ve been waiting for this for a
while. I’ve enjoyed my job. It’s been good for me, been good to me,
love the people, really like the job, hate to leave, but it’s time,”
she said.
Gibbs began her career with the Stahl family at Stahl’s Implement on
February 23, 1961. She recalls the story that led to her employment
with the Mount Pulaski family as if it was just yesterday. “I
graduated from high school. I was only 17. My birthday is the end of
September. All summer I went out looking for a job…Decatur,
Springfield, Lincoln…all kinds of places...factories, state,
Illinois Bell. They wouldn’t take my application because I wasn’t
18. So I ended up working at the bowling alley and the restaurant
every night for a few months.” Gibbs was referring to the bowling
alley uptown that was owned by Mel Singley in 1960 and is currently
the Old Brickyard Pub and Grill.
Gibbs, who lived at home at the time with her parents, George and
Doris Chapman, continued with the story, “Ed Stahl came and knocked
on my door one day in February of 1961. He said he’d been to the
school and checked. He needed a bookkeeper and they suggested me and
would I try it for a couple weeks. I said I’ll try it for a couple
weeks.”
 She took a deep breath and carried on, “It’s been a long two weeks.
He never said quit coming in, and I didn’t ask.”
She went on to explain that she first went to work for Ed Stahl at
Stahl’s Implement when it was located near the highway Illinois
Route 121 just across the road from Moore’s Diner. That building
still stands today and is currently across the road from the Mount
Pulaski Police Department.
Lewis Stahl, current owner of Stahl’s Furniture, was just a kid when
Gibbs started working for the family, and he remembered how she used
to give him a job to do in the summer at the old implement store.
“At three o’clock in the afternoon it was a policy that all of the
employees would take a break. Freda informed me that it was my job
to go around and see what kind of milkshakes everybody wanted.
Moore’s Diner was right across the street from our implement
company. I would have to go around and collect the money and find
out from all the employees what kind of milkshake they wanted. That
was one of my primary jobs that Freda gave me when I was working
there.” Stahl added that he would be very precise ordering the
milkshakes because Gibbs had “informed him not to screw up the
order.”
Years later that little boy in charge of ordering the milkshakes and
making sure he had the correct change at Moore’s Diner would go on
to college and rely on Gibbs’ help from back home. “When I was going
to college I always knew that my dad (Carl Stahl) went to lunch at
11:30 every single day. He never ever did not go to lunch at 11:30.
So I was always afraid to ask him for more money. I would call Freda
when I knew my dad would not be there. I would tell Freda to just
tell my dad to put more money in my checking account because I ran
out of money. So that way I would not have to talk to my dad and
Freda would always get me more money when I called.” Stahl laughed
when he added, “He wouldn’t yell at Freda like he would yell at me.”
Right around the time that Stahl was in college the implement store
would make a move. In January of 1972 Stahl’s Implement moved to a
new location at the junction of Routes 54 and 121. Then in 1976 the
family moved the furniture store from its location uptown on the
square to its current large showroom also at the junction of Routes
54 and 121.
When the Stahl family sold the implement store in 1988 to Cross
Brothers, Gibbs made the transition over to the furniture store. She
recalled, “They sold the implement in 1988 and Ed told me before
they got it all done, he says now you’re not going to go look for a
job. You’re going to go over to the furniture store. His plans were
for Lois (his wife) to retire and I was going to do her job.”
Gibbs made the transition smoothly. “Because you’re basically just
working with figures. I was used to working with tractors and
combines, and descriptions of furniture was completely different,
but you get used to that and you learn what’s what.”
Gibbs has had a long list of duties throughout the years as the
office manager and she’s adapted to all the changes, including going
from manual bookkeeping to the implementation of the computer
system.
As the years went by, Gibbs would also break in a new boss at the
furniture store. The boy who was once in charge of ordering
milkshakes for the implement crew was the same young man in college
who used to call back to the store for money while his dad was out
to lunch, and soon he would be her next boss.
As Freda Gibbs and Lewis Stahl have worked closely together for
decades, each has nothing but praise for the other and the feeling
of family is mutual. “He’s been a good boss,” said Gibbs, adding
“They all have been. And their families have all been wonderful to
be around and their kids. You grow up knowing all the kids and you
watch them grow, mature and become fine adults. It’s been good. It’s
not necessarily a small business, but it’s a small family-oriented
business. They are a caring family. I’ve really enjoyed working for
Stahl’s. They’ve been good to me.”
Meanwhile Stahl praised the loyalty that Gibbs has shown the family
for 54 years and 10 months. “As far as integrity and honesty and
morals, you could not ask for a better person. Eventually she just
became part of the family. Anybody that has a commitment to 54 years
being in one place…she basically knew more about the business than I
did. You can’t beat her as a human being. Freda stays very focused
and you can leave anything with Freda and I guarantee you the job
will get done right. Sometimes I would sit in my office after
talking to her and I would think “Do I own the business or does she
own the business?” But that’s the kind of employee you want. You
want a person that watches your business better than you do.”
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His praise did not stop there as he added, “She has the same
philosophy that our whole family did. We don’t sign our employee’s
paycheck, the customer does. Without the customer we have nothing.
You have to take care of the customer.”
What is unique about Gibbs though is she truly cared for not only
the customers, but also her coworkers for an astounding 54 years and
10 months. In fact, she met her future husband at work. She married
George Gibbs, a truck driver for Stahl’s Implement, in 1974.
Stahl also remembered those days when Freda was dating George.
“George was a truck driver for the implement store and an excellent
employee. He was a really nice guy and Freda hit a homerun when she
married him.” Together they almost had enough for an entire baseball
team. George had six children from a previous marriage and Freda
said many times, “I love them all.” Those children are Stewart, who
passed away December 24, 1993, and Peggy, Donna, Darrell, David and
Kenny. There are now eleven grandchildren and ten
great-grandchildren that she thinks of as her own.
Freda laughed when she said, “I used to tell people they were
George’s kids but my grandkids, but they’re mine now. They are all
good to me.”
Sadly, George passed away in 2010. Gibbs had contemplated retirement
then but didn’t want to sit at home and feel sorry for herself. Now
seems like the right time, although the question did come up about
why not stay a couple more months to make it an even 55 years? Gibbs
addressed the question with a good reason. As a resident of Cornland
she simply did not want to travel that treacherous stretch of Route
54 anymore back and forth everyday in the winter months. She had
done it for many years in a pickup truck and even took on the deer
population once and lost. She finally decided since she has a car
now she just would not take the chance on bad winter weather
anymore.
One thing she is taking a chance on is that the weather will
eventually be warm again and she can focus on enjoying her
retirement. “This spring and summer I want to sit on my deck and
read books.” Simple enough but she also earned the right to adopt
this philosophy at this stage in her life: “I just want to do what I
want to do, when I want to do, if I want to do. That’s my concept,”
she said precisely.
Wait, what about a party? After all, she’s earned it. Well, Lewis
Stahl and company did not disappoint. Friends and family gathered at
the Pizza Man of Mount Pulaski before Gibbs’ retirement and managed
to pull off a surprise retirement party.
Dear friends of hers, Mike and Sue Werschey of Lincoln, helped to
make the evening perfect. Gibbs did not suspect a thing, even though
Mike does not like pizza. She laughed while telling the story, “Mike
is not fond of pizza but it was his idea to take me to Pizza Man
because somebody had told him about this delicious Italian Beef
sandwich they have. I know Mike does like his beef so I never
suspicioned a thing.” Upon seeing a room full of familiar faces all
there to honor her, Gibbs admitted, “This is unusual but I was
speechless for about a minute or two.”
Luckily for Gibbs, Stahl and some coworkers took over with speeches
and the room filled with laughter. There was one moment though when
Stahl himself got a little choked up as he reflected on the
treasured memories. No surprise there, he’s a great guy, as all his
employees will tell you and quite honestly Gibbs has been in his
life just about as long as any woman.
Looking back on the retirement party Gibbs had a big smile on her
face that eventually turned into a hearty laugh as she said,
“They’ve been good to me. I’ve enjoyed the association. Don’t know
about them. I really thought the retirement party might come after I
was gone and they might be celebrating that, you know? That’s what I
told some of them. Different ones would ask me about the retirement
party and I said, “I don’t know. They might not have it until after
I am gone. What do I know? They didn’t ask me.”
That may be the only thing that’s gotten past Gibbs in the 54 years
and 10 months with the company. Congratulations, Freda! You’ve
earned it!
[Teena Lowery]
A couple final notes:
The reason why I chose to use the wording “54 years and 10 months”
instead of “nearly 55 years” is because I wanted to be precise just
like Freda. If there was one word to describe Freda it would have to
be precise. There is no gray area with Freda. Everything is precise.
Finally for those not familiar with the Stahl family of Mount
Pulaski, they are a very well-respected family in the community who
at one time owned and operated three businesses. There was Stahl’s
Implement, Stahl’s Hardware and Stahl’s Furniture. Brothers Fred,
Carl and Ed were the men behind the businesses and their respective
wives Ellie, Bernice and Lois were also instrumental in the success
of the companies. Carl, Berniece, Ed and Lois have all passed on,
but Fred and Ellie remain living in Mount Pulaski.
Lewis Stahl is the only son of Carl and Bernice and he remains at
the helm of Stahl’s Furniture, which has been in business since
1953. "Room to Room" is their familiar slogan and they offer the
largest selection of quality furniture in Central Illinois.
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