SIMI VALLEY : Hospital Volunteer Going Strong as 83rd Birthday Nears

Irene Runkle Gates of Simi Valley will celebrate her 83rd birthday on May 23. But when it comes to community service, don’t expect her to slow down.

Every week, Gates volunteers as an office worker at the United Methodist Church of Simi Valley and as a gift shop aide at Simi Valley Hospital.

Gates is a familiar figure at the hospital, which recently honored her for donating a record 10,000 hours since 1966.

“She’s the first one to attain that mark,” said Vega Rice, the hospital’s director of volunteer services. “That’s why this was such a big deal.”

Gates is part of the hospital’s growing Volunteer Guild, which now has about 250 members. During 1991, hospital volunteers donated 27,330 hours--equivalent to the work of 13.2 full-time employees who, at $10 per hour, would have cost nearly $300,000, hospital officials said.

Although she started as a patient-care volunteer, Gates donated most of her time in the gift shop. She served as its manager for four years, also as a volunteer.

But she has given more than just her spare time. In 1986, when the guild set up a scholarship fund for high school volunteers planning a medical career, Gates made the first contribution.

“She’s a generous person,” Rice said. “She has a nice personality. She’s easy to get along with, but she can be assertive. When she sets her mind to doing something, she will do it.”

Gates modestly says she merely followed the example of a sister-in-law when she started volunteering at the hospital 26 years ago.

“I used to want to have a gift shop myself,” she said. “And I had a very strong feeling about doing something helpful for the community. I could have gone somewhere and played cards or played golf. But I felt strongly that I wanted to do something for the community.”

Gates is a member of a pioneering Simi Valley family. Her parents, Frank and Vivian Runkle, were farmers who settled in the Madera area in 1904. Gates was crowned Miss Simi in 1932, before the community became known as Simi Valley.

At a volunteer recognition dinner last month, hospital administrators announced that a new continuing education fund for Simi Valley Hospital employees had been named in Gates’ honor.

“I was so surprised,” the longtime volunteer said. “All I could say was, ‘Thank you,” and that it was an honor. I couldn’t say any more without crying.”