Mildred C. Parsons, the longest working FBI employee, who retired in 2002, died on Sunday. She was 99.
In June 2002, I was working at the Washington Post and I had the opportunity to interview Mildred Parsons, a sweet woman who worked as an FBI secretary in Washington for 62 years, 9 months and 2 days — never once calling in sick.
I wrote back then:
Yesterday, clad in a bright-pink dress suit adorned with a white corsage, Parsons, 88, the longest-serving employee in FBI history, retired. Her final day on the job included a visit to the office of the director, Robert S. Mueller III, and a party, during which former and current co-workers showered her with hugs and unbridled adulation.
“No, I’m not going to cry,” she told well-wishers. “It is sad, but at the same time, it’s nice. Everyone has to retire sometime. It’s time for me to leave.”
In nearly 63 years on the job, Parsons, known as Millie, had a headache or two and a cold, but no ailment serious enough to make her stay home.
“I may have sneezed or something, or had a little bit of a cold,” she said. “If I had a headache, I just went in there. If I was around people, I would forget.”
Parsons died on Sunday, reportedly from heart failure. She was 99.
I got emails from folks who worked with her letting me know. She was one of those FBI legends.
A funeral service will be held on Thursday. A posting on the funeral page website said: “Beloved wife of the late Harry B. Parsons; survived by her nephews Robert Engle, Marion “Skip” Toms, niece Barbara Farmer, her friend and dance partner Robert M. Harris and numerous great nieces and nephews.”
(If anyone would like me to post a comment about Millie on this story, please send comments to: Lengela@ticklethewire.com.)
