Durango resident Annabel Stickle, 93, jokes that she starts each day the same way – checking obituaries on The Durango Herald website.
“If my name isn’t there, I know it’s time for me to get going,” she says.
Next, she browses news headlines. If she finds an intriguing story, she clicks on it, reads it and, sometimes, emails the link to her son in Georgia.
Her next stop on the World Wide Web? YouTube.
“Some people have their orange juice in the morning, I have my Jack Jones fix,” she says.
Of seniors 65 and older surveyed by the Pew Research Center, only 18 percent said they would feel comfortable using a computer or a smartphone or tablet, while 77 percent said they would need someone to walk them through the process. But once they start using the Internet, according to the Pew study, 71 percent go online every day or almost every day.
Count Stickle among one of them.
“I couldn’t live without my computer,” she says. “I search information every day; it keeps me in touch with the world.”
American seniors generally have been slow to adapt to computers. Once seniors join the online world, digital information and technology often become essential parts of their day, the Pew study found.
Stickle has been using a computer since 1986, long before many middle-class families had a computer in their homes.
She learned how to use them while she was working as a part-time secretary at Fort Lewis College. Stickle was hired as the first full-time secretary for the dean of students at the college in 1962 and worked there for 20 years.
After she retired, she spent 16 years on and off working part-time and training other secretaries, she said. In 1986, she was asked to work on an accreditation report for the college and to do the work on a computer.
Fortunately, Stickle had the resources and willingness to adapt to technological change. She took computer classes at the college alongside students, who were always more than willing to help her when she had a hiccup, she says.
“Fort Lewis was a big part of my life,” Stickle says.
While others in her age group haven’t had the same opportunities to learn how to use a computer, times are changing.
The Durango/La Plata Senior Center, 2424 Main Ave., offers computer classes several times a month for $15 per class. Class sizes are small, with just five students per session. But the limited number is not necessarily a bad thing. Smaller classes allow instructors to provide one-on-one training, says Mandi Dicamillo, activities director for the center.
Classes, scheduled from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. are in high demand and fill up quickly, she says.
The facility has expanded its offerings to cover use of tablets, smartphones and other devices. It also offers a class specifically for Mac laptop users.
This year, about 240 people have signed up for the training, Dicamillo says.
Though Stickle is more than literate with a computer, she says she understands the reluctant attitude some older people may have when learning to use the technology.
“Some older people don’t see a need for it,” she says. “It’s difficult to learn because the computer wants to be boss.”
Her secret to adaptation and longevity, she says, is community involvement and keeping in touch with those closest to her. She also is a self-proclaimed eternal optimist.
“I think your mind affects your health and your life,” Stickle says. “I think older people need to reach out and keep in touch.”
Stickle has accomplished many firsts in her career and says she has lived a charmed life.
In 1948, she started the first kindergarten program in Dolores, she says.
In 1950, she became the first secretary for the Dolores school superintendent, she says.
In 1953, she was the first secretary for Durango High School Principal Lyle Howard. A year later, she transferred to work for superintendant Bill Canode.
Though she can no longer drive because of vision problems, she still operates a business with the support of her daughter Sharon Bergeson, of Idaho Springs, who provides financial planning, and her right-hand-man Clint Hunt, who helps with various errands.
Stickle is also a bit of a philanthropist. She’s an advocate for expanding the Hospice of Mercy residence and actively participates in fundraising for the facility.
She says she lives her life with her favorite Frank Sinatra line in mind: “Live every day as if it will be your last, because one day it will be.”
vguthrie@durangoherald.com
