Time magazine reported that Bob Vollmer, who lives in the southern part of Indiana, started working for a state agency in 1962. Mr. Vollmer plans to submit his final work report as a survey officer of the Department of Natural Resources Indiana on February 6, 2020.
At 102, Vollmer, a veteran of World War II, still travels across Indiana to collect technical data fields and confirm boundaries for assets managed by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. But recently, he said that his body is finally tired and wants to rest.
Vollmer said he plans to read books, garden during his retirement and visit several islands in the southern Pacific, where he served in the US Navy during the war.
According to a state release in 2016, Vollmer was also in the Navy after the Japanese attack on Pearlport in 1941, when Governor Eric Holcomb presented Mr. Vellmer with an honorary award called Sagamore of the Wabash - one of the most prestigious titles in the state of Indiana.
After the war, Vollmer graduated from Purdue University with a degree in agricultural and biomedical engineering in 1952. He then worked for the Wabash Valley Association in the Reservoir and Flood Control Project before moving to work for the Department of Natural Resources.
During his career at the Ministry of Natural Resources, he witnessed the change of survey tools from paper and pencils to high-tech tools such as GPS handheld devices.
Vollmer said that his time on a naval ship during World War II inspired his future work at the Department of Natural Resources.
