Print Solutions Magazine

Perpetual motion machines are impossible to create, according to the laws of physics. But who says you can’t hire a perpetual motion employee? Ask anyone who works with Charlie Petron, an enthusiastic estimator and CSR in York, Pa.

Charlie Petron celebrates his 80th birthday with coworkers at Superior Business Solutions.

Petron has worked in the printing industry for 53 years. He’ll celebrate his 84th birthday in September. But Petron’s true legacy isn’t merely a half century dealing with ink on paper. It’s the indomitable determination and thoughtful attitude that touch everyone around him.

Petron, who works for Superior Business Solutions, recently received a DMIA special service award for providing extensive feedback to the Source Hotline. While he shrugs at praise for help he considers second nature, Petron’s coworkers say this generosity is characteristic of the man and mentor they know well.

“Charlie is what we all want to become,” says Mike Bingham, who met Petron when both men worked at Standard Register more than 30 years ago. “Nobody knows the business, or how to do pricing, like he does. But the funny thing is, Charlie represents so much more than those things. He represents integrity and character. He is one of the finest people I know and I’m not the only one who feels that way.”

Last September, Petron had open-heart surgery, which he feels has caused him a only few setbacks (other than not eating donuts anymore). Now, he has to let the grandchildren mow the lawn, and let his coworkers lift the office water cooler. He works “only” three days a week, he says—an accomplishment some consider Herculean for an octogenarian.

Petron graduated from high school in 1940 and found his top college choices too expensive. He worked for a year to afford Penn State—a reasonable $50 per semester—but flunked out of a chemical engineering program after only three semesters. He served in the Army special troops during WWII and returned in 1946. “It was ’47 before I could get back into Penn State,” Petron says, at which point he enrolled in a commerce and finance program. In February, he met Augusta (Gussie) Schwab in a sociology class and they were married in September. Eventually, they raised seven children.

For 35 years, Petron says, he was a salesman with Standard Register in Pennsylvania until the company forced his retirement in January of 1988. Before the end of the month, he was working as the lone CSR at Mike Bingham’s startup distributorship, Vector, answering phones in the living room. When people ask Petron why he never really retired, he’s puzzled. “Mike just called me and needed help,” he says. “It’s been a fast 18 years. I like the people, and I’ve stayed. There’s no pressure and I like the work.”

When Bingham sold his business to Superior in 2002, Petron was 79 and worried he might be out of a job, says Bingham, who offered to phone Gussie. Petro says his wife has never pressured him to retire, although she retired from working as a tax collector in 1994.

“I would never dream of asking him to retire,” Gussie says. “He’s just too happy. I don’t honestly know what he would do.”

Petron remains enthusiastic about work, Superior employees say. “He’s like the Energizer bunny, but with super batteries,” says Joan Weitzel, who has shared an office with him for the past eight years. “He’s a very gracious and energetic man and we love having him in the office.”

The Petrons plan to take a Mediterranean cruise later this month, but that’s the most time off Charlie will have for a while.

“Retire?” He asks. “Never! Not until I can’t get up the 17 front steps, or we move. Both of which I doubt.”