Kwik Star commitment: Two workers give 89 years to company (so far)

Eva Jacobson is “99% sure” she’s the longest-working employee of the Kwik Trip/Kwik Star company, after 47 years working for the business and the one it bought out.

She started as a 15-year-old on Aug. 7, 1977, when she began working in Denver’s Wolter Mini Mart, a local convenience store chain that would be bought out by Kwik Trip in 1985.

In 1979, Eva moved to Parkersburg and worked at the Wolter Mini Mart there, then in 1985, Kwik Trip, Inc., based in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, bought the Wolter chain and Eva started her long run with that company.

(In 1993, Kwik Trip stores in Iowa changed their name to Kwik Star.)

Eva worked stores in Cedar Falls, Janesville, Parkersburg again and Waterloo.

“I’ve moved a few times,” she said. “I’ve kind of bounced around.”

Next she went back to Parkersburg as a manager, then in 2011 she took over the Kwik Star that’s across from Camping World in Cedar Falls.

She has spent more than half her career in management for the convenience store chain.

“Three years ago I stepped down and came here [Janesville] full-time, from management,” Eva said. “Then eight months ago I went to part-time.”

She was easing into retirement. On Dec. 4 at 1 p.m., at age 63, Eva clocked out of Kwik Star for the last time. She’s parting on good terms with her long-time employer.

Kwik Star is “a great company to work for. It really is,” she said. “The family value that Kwik Trip has is great.”

The company also has a profit-sharing program that she appreciated.

“You get a bonus check every year,” she said.

Eva’s last boss, at the Janesville Kwik Trip, was Brenda Immerzeel.

Brenda, who started with the company in 1982, is likely the employee with the second-most seniority. (Well, now that Eva has retired, she may finally move into first place.)

Unlike Eva, Brenda has spent all 42 of her years in the Kwik Star corporation in the same town, first at the original store along old Highway 218, then at the current one, along the Avenue of the Saints.

Brenda said she grew up in Janesville and married a local, so she stayed put. She has managed the Janesville Kwik Star for so long that she has had multi-generations of the same families working for her.

“I’ve had so many families from Janesville,” she said. “Their kids. Their grandmas. Their cousins. I’ve had a lot of them. They’ve worked for me.”

Among her past employees are Eva’s four kids, along with two of her own, and then her younger daughter worked for Eva in Cedar Falls.

Like Eva, Brenda says of Kwik Star, “It’s just a great place to work. They treat you very well.”

Her favorite part of her job is the people she sees, both her coworkers and those who shop there.

“The guests are the main thing that make your day,” Brenda said. “They come and see you.”

The people are the part of the job that Eva will miss the most in retirement—workers and customers.

“I’m going to miss both of them,” she said.

She and Brenda had both attended an annual meeting in Waterloo that final morning, where Eva saw friends and coworkers from all over the district.

“I didn’t think I’d cry, and I went to the year-end meeting and saw people I’ve worked with in different stores,” she said. “I said I wasn’t going to cry, and I cried.”

So much of Eva’s Kwik Star journey has been intertwined with Brenda’s. Has one’s retirement got the other one ready to move on?

“I’m not quite that old,” Brenda said, but added that she’s “thinking about it.”

The two expect to continue meeting outside work hours to socialize and to take trips together.

With more time available, Eva will certainly travel more. She and her husband, who retired from UPS 12 years ago, already have trips to Florida and Mexico planned for the cold months.

Plus she has 11 grandkids whose activities she expects to keep her busy.

“I’m just hoping to enjoy my retirement, enjoy my �ڲ��.” She said. Then she clarified, “My other �ڲ��.”