A Texas woman recently celebrated her 100th birthday. But Elaine Kuper has an even more impressively long history of volunteering.
Kuper devoted 61 years to serving at Texas Children’s Hospital before retiring in 2015.
“I just loved being with people,” Kuper told USA Today. “It’s the best. There’s no hospital like it.”
On her 100th birthday, the hospital shared a photo of Kuper in a Facebook post honoring its longest-serving volunteer.
Sporting her red and white uniform, Kuper served in various roles at the medical facility. From working at the all-volunteer women-run snack bar for 14 years to delivering mail and giving tours, she went above and beyond. She served a 45-year stint at the hospital’s information desk, according to USA Today.
The outlet reported Kuper started volunteering at the hospital in February 1954. A transplanted Texan, she’s a New York native.
“There were 10 of us that were the first to start volunteering, and I lasted longer than anybody, but I loved it so much,” Kuper said.
She was known for greeting the hospital’s doctors not by their names, but by their sandwich orders.
“I had three favorite doctors that came every day I was there; we’d call them Mr. Tuna Fish, Mr. Grilled Cheese, and Mr. Roast Beef,” Kuper told USA Today, adding that Mr. Roast Beef preferred mustard and pickles on his sandwich.
She even took Spanish lessons to better help her patients and their families.
Kuper also served as a charter member of the Texas Children’s Women’s Auxiliary and had a volunteer services suite named in her honor.
“Elaine was always somebody who was just our living historian,” said Paige Schulz, Texas Children’s assistant vice president of patient support services told the paper. “She’s somebody that was so delightful to greet volunteers and staff, and really made everybody’s day better.”
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