With a state career spanning seven decades, Gloria Torres is taking her well-earned retirement.
Torres got her first job with the state of California more than half a century ago, when she was hired at Stockton State Hospital in 1964. With some breaks for child rearing, she recently retired from N.A. Chaderjian Youth Correctional Facility with more than 54 years of state service as an Office Technician and Case Records Technician.
On the eve of her retirement, she had the greatest seniority of any employee at the Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ). The grandmother of 15 will be plenty busy in retirement, but she has decades of cherished work memories.
“Muhammed Ali came to visit the youth once,” she recalls. “He was very handsome. He met with the wards in the gym. He was very pleasant and easy to talk to.”
Torres said her favorite memories were of years spent at the now closed DeWitt Nelson School.
“We had very good programs, staff and teamwork,” she said.
She recalls an earlier time when youth received holiday furloughs, and part of her job was processing those.
“(I made) sure youth had bus tickets home for the holidays,” she said.
She remembers when the first busload of youth arrived at the Karl Holton School in the 1960s.
“We had just broken ground, and were very busy preparing when they arrived.”
Torres said the changes in office procedures were vast over the years. She went from using typewriters to word processors and then computers.
“We used the (IBM) Selectric typewriter and the Wang word processor.”
She noted the arrival of email as the main technological change that impacted the way she performed her duties.
Torres had experience with the California Youth Authority before she began working for the state. She and her friends were recruited to attend school dances held at youth facilities.
“It was fun. We helped lift their spirits,” she said.
While coworkers are sorry to see her go, they wished her well.
“Congratulations and thanks are due for her decades of service to the youth of California. We wish her much happiness in retirement,” said DJJ officials.
Torres retired earlier this year.
Submitted by DJJ.
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