Emma Jordan is a woman of many accomplishments. Of her 95 years, she spent 64 of them in the workforce. In a day when few women worked full time, Emma spent 34 years as an office manager. When the company she worked for relocated, she wanted a job closer to home. So she quit her office manager job on a Friday and was driving home past the new Tootsie Roll company when she saw they were advertising for workers. She stopped in and applied for the Public Relations position and was hired. She started with Tootsie Roll that Monday — she was 58 at the time — and worked there for 30 years. (She quit on the last day of the end of the century.)

She loved Tootsie Roll and had a lot of fun there. She worked with Ernie Banks and Stan Musiel, who were involved in various promotions. She remembers a time when they did an air drop of Tootsie Rolls for American soldiers in Korea. "It was actually a mistake," she says. "The soldiers had all kinds of code words for ammunition, and 'Tootsie Rolls' was one of them. Someone in that company placed an order for Tootsie Rolls, meaning ammo, and we shipped them actual Tootsie Rolls! But they were glad because they didn't have any food, so now they finally had something to eat."

She came to Providence Rehabilitation on the recommendation of her doctor. "If I had to go to a nursing home," he told her, "I would go to Providence. They have the best nursing staff of anywhere in Chicago." So Emma took him at his word and moved to Providence without even checking any other options.

"They say you get tired of company candy, but I never did," says Emma. She still loves Tootsie Rolls. When she was in the hospital soon after her retirement, the company sent Tootsie Rolls to all the nurses. And when she moved into Providence of Palos Heights two years ago, the company sent more Tootsie Rolls. "I ate just as many as anyone else!" says Emma.