Discovering The Mature Lifestyle
Farmington woman forges a new path after job loss. Page 2
Careers
September 15, 2016
September Issue
Bloomington man still works full-time, exercises at 92 BY SUE WEBBER CONTRIBUTING WRITER Ed Bather Jr. became a civil engineering student at the University of Minnesota in 1942, following in the footsteps of his father. His father, Ed Bather Sr., was an engineering student at the University of Minnesota when World War I broke out. A native of southwest Minneapolis and graduate of Washburn High School, Ed Bather Jr. was drafted into the Navy in 1943 and wound up serving on a ship in the Philippines during World War II. He returned to the University of Minnesota after three years in the Navy, and graduated in 1948. Like his dad, after graduation he went to work for the Minnesota Highway Department (now the Department of Transportation), and then joined construction contractor Johnson, Drake & Piper, Inc., where he worked on highway construction in Florida, upstate New York, and New York City. Bather subsequently began selling construction equipment for Ziegler Co. Meanwhile, his dad formed his own construction-consulting firm just as the federal interstate system was being designed and built. They formed BRW, a multi-discipline firm of about 100 people in the Twin Cities. Bather sold the business in 1974 and since has been a consulting engineer for a firm in Roseville and is property manager for the Yorktown Office Court, an office building and executive suites at 71st and York Avenues in Edina that the firm once owned. His family continues to own the building. “We designed our building and Kraus Anderson built it in 1972,” Bather said. “I sold the business to a younger partner but kept the building as an investment.” Now 92, Bather still works at his office six hours a day, five days a week. “I used to put in 10 or 12 hours a day,” he said. He hired Debi Gelwitz as property manager to help him in 1982, and she’s still working with him, Bather said.
Ed Bather, 92, of Bloomington, still works a t his offi ce six hours a day , fi ve days a week. After work, he exercises. (Submitted photo) “She really does an awful lot,” he said. “She takes care of the tenants. She’s really great. We call her the boss.” Gelwitz said she first heard about the job from a friend who worked in the building. “She told me about it, and that was it,” Gelwitz said. “It’s been great for both Ed and me. Our building is smaller, and it’s like family here. It’s been really nice.” According to the company’s website, Yorktown Offices was built as part of a major community development project in the Southdale area. Plans for the 125-acre multi-use, high intensity development included about 1,200 apart-
ment units, a Target store, a regional Hennepin County Library/Government Service Center, a YMCA facility, First State Bank (now known as US Bank), Byerly’s food market, an office site and several retail businesses. “It was the intent of the design framework that individual owners/developers would create an integrated community,” the website said. “Yorktown Offices was built as part of the development initiative and the owners have remained active in the business and community since its groundbreaking in 1972.” BATHER - TO PAGE 2