ShawneeDispatch.com

Glee Freeman turned 80 years old Feb. 24, but she planned to be at work just like every other day of the week.

“Just 11 to 2, maybe,” she pondered. “If people keep coming in, I might stay.”

And people might just keep coming in to Taco Uno, 13220 W. 62nd Terrace, where she has been the manager for 15 years. Freeman tends to be the main attraction at the restaurant, bringing her customers back with her friendly service and positive outlook on life.

“The people that come in here — they’re not just my customers, they’re my friends,” she said.

Freeman grew up one of five children on a farm in southern Missouri, and she moved to Shawnee with her husband in 1950. She worked in the meat department at Safeway for 38 years. Shortly after her husband died, and after just four years of retirement, she came to work at Taco Uno, then known as Taco Via.

Freeman said she likes to keep busy and take advantage of her good health — she hasn’t been to the doctor since 2003.

“I’m so fortunate that I feel good, and I like to work,” she said.

So much so that she can be found at Taco Uno for at least a few hours every day of the week.

“I only work about 33 hours a week,” she explains, noting many days she works just three hours a day. “…I’d rather work here than travel; I’m not a traveler.”

Her passions, outside of working at Taco Uno, are her two Chihuahuas, Jesse and Elvis, trolling through thrift shops and doing her yard work. She also enjoys taking a trip to her hometown every year with her great-granddaughter.

While one of her two sons has died and the other lives in Florida, those hobbies have been enough to keep her here.

“(My son) tried to get me to move down there (to Florida), but this is home,” she said. “I love my house and I love Shawnee.”

Freeman added that she doesn’t let herself feel lonely because of the loved ones she’s lost.

“It’s like they say, don’t growl because it’s over, smile because it happened,” she said.

Jim Sauntry, owner of Taco Uno, classifies Freeman as a young 80, saying her energy is a draw for his restaurant.

“She’s made a lot of friends in here; a lot of people come in just to talk to her,” he said.

It’s clear Freeman does a good job of living up to her first name. She says it’s all about having a sunny outlook on life.

“I like just about everybody, and I think everybody likes me,” she explains. “I’m a positive thinker, always have been.”

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