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RETIREE PROFILE:<br />
STAN<br />
WIELGUS<br />
Loup retiree Stan Wielgus (center) prepares<br />
to set a pole with coworkers in 2016.<br />
Stan Wielgus may have more free<br />
time as a retiree. But he sure doesn’t<br />
spend it sitting around.<br />
In fact, he probably burns more<br />
calories now, figuring in the onemile<br />
swims, 3-mile walks, weight<br />
lifting, and stretching he does on a<br />
regular basis.<br />
“When I retired, that was one<br />
thing I told myself — that I was going<br />
to keep myself healthy,” Wielgus<br />
said. “So I make sure I do that.”<br />
***<br />
Wielgus has always been on the<br />
move in more ways than one.<br />
He joined the Navy right out of<br />
high school, following in the footsteps<br />
of his brother and father. As one<br />
of 10 children, he also knew it was his<br />
key to a better life.<br />
“They were offering an education<br />
and I took advantage of that,”<br />
Wielgus said.<br />
He spent four years seeing the<br />
world — Australia, Japan, China,<br />
Guam, Taiwan, and Hawaii — before<br />
leaving active service. (He later<br />
re-enlisted and spent 14 years in the<br />
Navy Reserve.)<br />
After leaving the Navy, Wielgus<br />
headed to Platte College, followed by<br />
a job at Cornhusker Public Power District.<br />
He joined Loup Power District in<br />
1980 and stayed for nearly 40 years,<br />
working as a Journey Line Technician<br />
and Crew Lead.<br />
“It was definitely right<br />
up my alley because I<br />
like to be outside and I<br />
like to be on the move.”<br />
Wielgus also really enjoyed the<br />
satisfaction of a job well done, like<br />
putting in secondary underground<br />
service<br />
“The ground’s been untouched<br />
and by the time you leave, you have it<br />
trenched and the wire’s in and energized,”<br />
he said.<br />
On the flip side, Wielgus said he<br />
sure doesn’t miss getting called out<br />
to fix storm damage when it was cold<br />
or rainy.<br />
Wielgus knows he put in his hours<br />
on those storm calls. He put in all his<br />
years and now can enjoy retirement.<br />
Looking back, he said all those<br />
years went fast on the whole, but the<br />
last three gearing up to retirement<br />
seemed to take forever. And that’s<br />
understandable since Wielgus had<br />
been working ever since junior high.<br />
Now he has the time to focus on<br />
helping friends and family with<br />
repairs or home improvement<br />
projects. He has time to travel.<br />
And he definitely has time to<br />
exercise. Sometimes he does cardio.<br />
Sometimes he lifts using the same<br />
weight bench he’s had since he got<br />
out of the Navy.<br />
And he goes outside as often as he<br />
can. Sometimes he’ll wander out to<br />
take a look at the stars.<br />
And then he realizes he better<br />
attend to another promise he made<br />
himself.<br />
“I was going to get myself a<br />
telescope, and I haven’t done it yet.”<br />
Wielgus has four children,<br />
five grandchildren and two<br />
great-grandchildren.<br />
4 | GENERATOR