Honoree heading to D.C.

Byline: Jaime Potthast

Sep. 27--Beth Tielke hasn't met a person she doesn't like.

"Everyone I meet, I love," she said. "They become my family."

The 76-year-old O'Neill, Neb., resident has gained many friends since she opened a dairy supply business with her husband in 1974.

Tielke enjoys her constant contact with people and said she has no plans to slow down any time soon.

She was chosen recently as Nebraska's 2007 Outstanding Older Worker. She'll join representatives from each state in Washington, D.C., next week.

"I feel very honored and thankful," she said.

Tielke's seven children and a family friend will join her in Washington, where she will visit congressional offices, tour the city, attend a press conference and be an honored guest at the awards banquet.

"I'm really excited," she said. "It's something you never dream about doing, and it's almost here."

Tielke and her husband, Bill, also farmed and expanded their dairy supply business into a deli, which later became a sandwich business that she ran out of the trunk of her car.

She also led a fund drive to pay for construction of a bird aviary at an O'Neill elderly care facility and started an Internet shopping business.

She is in the O'Neill Hall of Fame.

Tielke stays busy running a Web site that supports Nebraska troops. And she also continues to sell natural products through Watkins, a home-based business. It's something she's done for more than 30 years.

"Some people like to knit and crochet," she said. "Someday, I'll do that too, but I don't have time right now.

"I stay in business because I love my friends and family. It's fun. It's my life."

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Copyright (c) 2007, Omaha World-Herald, Neb.

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