POULSBO — Each morning, Bob Blake, 87, wakes at 4 a.m. and reads one of his favorite Bible passages — Psalm 118, verse 24.

It states: “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

Thus begins the day of North Kitsap School District’s oldest employee. At 5 a.m., Blake is already at work, loading up his van and heading to each school in the district as the official courier.

“There’s a lot in this life to be happy about,” said Blake, who has worked for 71 years of his life. “I’ve been blessed to be in a good frame of mind.”

It’s difficult to tell what is more impressive — Blake’s optimism, which seems to radiate with each passing smile he gives to his coworkers, or his eternal youth, manifested in his boundless energy that likens him more to someone in their 40s, not late 80s.

He believes both characteristics come from his faith and demonstrated by the fact that in more than seven decades of work, Blake said he’s never taken a sick day.

“It sounds like a big brag. It isn’t,” he said of his track record. “It’s just a fact of life. My trust is in the Lord. And I believe that if you have a trust in God, your health benefits, too.”

However, Blake’s tenure at the NKSD’s warehouse and as courier ended June 30, after “four years, three months and 15 days,” he said. He’ll also ended his work in a similar position with Brenda Prowse Reality, his “afternoon” job when he finished each day at the district.

Blake and his wife Minnetta will embark on their next journey to Lake Washington, to live with her daughter, Claire. It will give the couple more time to spend with one another, though Blake admits it won’t be long before he finds a new job on the other side of the water.

“I just hope to work indefinitely,” he said. “I’m not ready to retire. But you come to a place in your upper 80s where spending time with your wife or husband becomes more precious.”

Storied careers

Blake was born in 1917, in Lynn, Mass. just outside of Boston.

“I was the same as any kid,” he said, recalling his favorite memories were the famous Boston Marathon and the various parades held throughout the year.

He also recalls Boston as being a “The Center of Patriotism” for the country in his youth.

He worked as a telegraph operator for 22 years, and he and his first wife, Jean, raised their two children, Rick and Jodie.

Blake moved to Anaheim, Calif. in 1959, going to work first as a claims adjuster for three years, followed by an 18-year career running his own construction and janitorial services company.

Only once has he been dissatisfied with his job: he took on a three year-stint as a welder. The task was so repetitive, he couldn’t handle it, Blake said.

“It was the most monotonous job of my life,” he said. “It drove me crazy.”

Next, he got what he said was his favorite job: working for his son, Rick, at an Orange County area law firm.

He performed a variety of tasks there, including investigations into clients, filing in the court system and maintaining the firm’s library. At times, he had up to 30 people working for him.

“My son being in the law firm didn’t hurt, either,” he said with a smile.

Following a short stint in Las Vegas as a Notary Public, he and his wife Minnetta, moved to Poulsbo in mid-December of 2000.

It didn’t take long for Blake, then at age 82, to find work, utilizing the West Sound Job Center. He found not one, but two jobs with NKSD and Brenda Prowse.

For almost five years, he’s been with both the district and Prowse, but he’ll soon leave West Sound, his legendary 71 year perfect employment record intact.

Retirement? Not in the cards for this 87-year-old.

He recalled seeing many of his friends — some of whom had worked in various New Deal Programs created under President Franklin Roosevelt in response to the Great Depression — who had died once they quit their jobs.

“They died like flies when they stopped working,” Blake said. “When it’s time for me to die, I’m ready. But I’m not going to die in inaction.”