Beloved meal delivery coordinator at Norridge senior facility celebrates 50 years of service

The old saying goes, if you love your job, you'll never work a day in your life.

That might be hyperbole for some, but Arleen Newhouse takes that to heart. 

For half a century, she has been helping seniors on the city's Northwest Side.

Her full-time job can be so fulfilling, but she often forgets she could be retired.

"Anybody can do my job. It's just that I happen to love my job," she said.

Newhouse heads up the home-delivered meals program at the Senior Assistance Center in Norridge.

"I used to be a driver and then we got too busy, so I had to start doing this," she said.

For five days a week, she bags catered meals, schedules drivers and plans their routes — coordinating deliveries on the Northwest Side.

"Arlene's our guru. She's our dispatcher. She's our Yoda. We love her," said driver Debbie Cocoran.

"I love to go out and visit. My problem is I get there and I don't stop talking," Newhouse said.

Sometimes, she tags along with drivers, just to make sure seniors like 102-year-old Lavergne Suchor get more than just a hot meal.

"She puts little cards in with the meal that say, you know, 'Thinking about you,' or something like that," Suchor said.

The homemade cards are just a small gesture Newhouse does to show that she cares for her clients as she does her drivers. This year, she's giving out lollipops.

Something else that's sweet. Newhouse has reached a meal-delivery milestone—50 years of service.

"It's not even a job. Not when you love it so much," she said.

No one understood this kind of love more than her husband, David.

"It was part of the package when we got married," she said, laughing.

An understanding the couple shared for 46 years.

"My husband was sick and I was taking care of him, but I still had to come in here. I felt he needed me, but when he would go to sleep, I would run in here and take care of my meals and I did that until he passed."

A year after losing a love, she almost gave up another.

"A year ago. Yeah, it was a year ago in August."

The key word — almost.

"It gave me something to do. It gave me a reason to get out of bed in the morning," she said. "I think we do about 2,000 to 3,000 meals a month."

She never did the math, but she's likely delivered more than a million meals over the decades, leaving some amazed about how she does it.

"Providing meals, I think they think that someone cares enough to give them something," Newhouse said.

"She likes to help people," Suchor said.

Newhouse says she plans to continue her service until she can't.

"They're going to carry me out of here," she said.

There's no reason to retire from a job that delivers just what she needs.

"It does something here to my heart," she said.

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