In the month of December 2012, Gladys Lindley, a cook at the cafeteria of BYU-Hawaii retired from her work after working for more than 26 years.Lindley is a Samoan and 63 years old. When asked why she chose to work as a cook, she said it was “by chance” that she got the job as a cook. Lindley was happy to be retiring after working for so many years, and she plans to travel to the mainland and visit her family. When she returns back to Hawaii, she would like to volunteer to work in the temple. Lindley was married to Dennis Lindley and they have two children named Danny and Alema.She graduated from Kahuku High School, and while attending school, she said she participated in the track and field club. After Lindley graduation from high school, she did not proceed to college. Instead, she started “doing all kind of work.” At one of her jobs, she worked at an egg farm. She said she worked for 15 years at the farm before she moved on to work at BYUH as a cook. After her retirement, she said she will miss the fun she had with her coworkers. Seini Malupo said when she first started to work as a cook, Lindley was her trainer. When “she tried all the stuff that she knows about cooking, then she would teach us,” Malupo said. Lindley was a hardworking employee, Malupo said, because “she never missed any working day and [always] tried to finish her job before she went home.” Malupo continued, “I know her. She is the best and she is a good lady.”Spencer Tan, the executive chef for Food Services praised Lindley as the cook who “makes the best shoyu chicken. She is very patient and good with students. She brought a lot of experience with her when she came in, and it improved the quality of the food in the café.” Chef Tan added, “ I cherish her cooking skill [because] she picked up new recipes very fast. I noticed she liked to help people. When they are sad or not happy, she tried to uplift them. She liked to cheer them up.”
Writer: Robinia Tan~Multimedia Journalist
