Retirement takes on new meaning for professionals who just can’t quit working
Keith Kirkpatrick doesn’t like to use the “R” word.
“For a lot of people, it’s almost like a dirty word,” Kirkpatrick said of the word “retirement.”
“‘I’m not retiring because I’m still doing stuff. Some people are just balls out doing stuff. I mean, they are busier now than ever,” said the 74-year-old Valparaiso resident, a successful businessman and entrepreneur in Northwest Indiana.
Kirkpatrick has had many roles. He was the host of “Lakeshore Focus,” a show on Lakeshore Public Media (PBS) in Merrillville, where he interviewed movers and shakers.
For 15 years, he served as president and CEO of South Shore Leadership Center, which he founded. The organization became affiliated with Purdue University Northwest in 2016 and is now the Leadership Institute.
About nine years ago, he decided it was time to step away from running things.
“I was kind of through with running organizations, which I had done my entire life, either as the CEO, the president, the executive director, the manager, the owner,” Kirkpatrick said. “I pretty much did that for 50 years. One day, I was just kind of tired of being in charge of organizations and running things. It would just be nice to take a break from that and do something different.”
A break … but not retirement.
Academic pursuits
Kirkpatrick isn’t alone in his decision to keep active in the business community.
According to a 2025 survey by ResumeTemplates of 1,000 Americans age 65 and older, 1 in 4 Americans over 65 are still working. The survey also found that 22 percent of working seniors have “unretired” and another 6 percent may return to work this year. Others cite the rising costs, boredom and genuine enjoyment of work are keeping seniors in the workforce, according to the survey.
For Kirkpatrick, he is using some of his “down” time to travel with his grown children. But he’s also using the time to meet with other older professionals and talking about what’s next for them in an informal setting.
He’s also researched university-level programs that provide guidance for successful retired professionals and business people to help plan the next chapter of their lives.
Several universities offer programs, often referred to as encore programs — schools such as Stanford, Harvard, University of Chicago and the University of Denver to name a few.
Another program is the Inspired Leadership Initiative at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend.
“Fellows who come to campus are looking to discern and discover what the next stage in life looks like after finishing an accomplished career,” said Emily Turner, associate director for prospect development and alumni relations for the Inspired Leadership Initiative at Notre Dame. “We bring fellows from a variety of backgrounds, from business to law to medicine to educators. They all come together and experience the program as a cohort.”
These cohorts attend classes on Notre Dame’s historic campus for an academic year, Turner said.
“Our program provides a framework of what we call discovery, discerning and designing the next stage or next act,” she said.
In the program, cohorts attend certain classes together. As the program moves along, cohorts are allowed to explore other areas of interest and often find themselves in classes with traditional degree-seeking students, both at the undergraduates and graduate levels.
“The idea is giving them the opportunity to explore something completely different than what they did in their previous life or never had time to do,” Turner said. “This gives them the chance to really go outside of what they are familiar with and explore other opportunities utilizing the resources Notre Dame has.”
There’s also a community aspect that’s really important.
“The cohorts have a weekly dinner allowing people with different backgrounds to share their expertise and knowledge with one another,” Turner said.
The median age of program participants ranges from 50 to 60 years old and those in their 70s and 80s. About half of the participants are Notre Dame graduates.
The program is entering its eighth year.
La Porte County businessman Marty Whalen was part of the first Inspired Leadership Initiative cohort at Notre Dame. Whalen now splits his time between his homes in La Porte and Bozeman, Montana.
Before retiring in 2015 at age 55, Whalen was the CEO of Martin Whalen Office Solutions, a third-generation, family-owned business. It provided office machines and document technology to businesses in the Joliet, Illinois, area since 1936.
The 65-year-old Whalen said he decided to participate in Notre Dame’s program to help him decide his next move.
“I was an early retiree and realized that I had to do something to keep my mind active. Notre Dame was starting their Inspired Leadership Program. I applied and was accepted into the first cohort,” Whalen said. “It gave me an opportunity that year to really have the space to discern what I wanted to do with the second and third chapters in my life if I’m lucky to have them.”
Whalen graduated from Notre Dame in 1982. The Inspired Leadership Program gave him a chance to reconnect with the campus and its culture.
“I was exposed to the environment of Notre Dame. It was a little weird going to class with a bunch of 18- to 21-year-olds but probably not as weird as it was for them to have a couple of retired people in their classes,” Whalen said. “It turned out to be really great, I think, for both sets of constituents. We added a little bit of life experience to the class and real world, and we got to see just how bright and engaged the younger generation is. It really gave me hope for the future.”
After completing the program, Whalen and two others, including a professor at Notre Dame, started the company Crossroads Solar in South Bend. The company manufactures solar panels and only employs people who have been incarcerated.
“We have 36 employees presently, and those are people that have served their time, paid their debt to society and are bettering their lives, and we pay a living wage that allows them to see the dignity of work and become good taxpaying citizens,” said Whalen, who serves as Crossroads Solar’s vice president.
While Whalen values the time he spent at Notre Dame in the program, he says one need not start a business after retiring to be successful.
“There’s a 100 different ways to retire but giving yourself the time and space to kind of be intentional and think through what is going to be best for you is time well spent,” Whalen said. “Everybody comes into it with different expectations, different inputs, and they get different outputs. Generally, it’s a wonderful time to take stock in your life, take stock of what you’ve done, take stock of your strengths and perhaps your weaknesses, and decide how you want to engage with the world going forward.”
Unretiring trend
Donald Babcock was employed by NIPSCO for 43 years. He worked a variety of positions over that time, starting in the engineering department to sales of compressed natural gas to economic development, a position to attract new industry and business to Northwest Indiana.
He retired in 2020 at age 66 from the utility.
But it didn’t take too long for Babcock to start feeling the itch to get back out there and start something new.
He was approached by Thomas Keon, who then was chancellor of Purdue University Northwest in Hammond and Westville. Keon asked Babcock to serve as director of economic development and community relations.
“I was ‘officially’ retired for about four months,” Babcock said. “I was going crazy sitting at home, and I put some routines in place to stay halfway in shape, but I love working and contributing, but I didn’t want to do it quite at the level I was doing at NIPSCO.”
Babcock said he wanted to contribute because he still had something to offer.
“There’s still some gas in the tank. Let’s put it to some good use, and I love working with great people and leaders and trying to particularly help young people,” Babcock said. “I try to mentor others and encourage them to do their best and get an education and be productive.”
Returning to work was encouraged by Babcock’s wife, Sue.
“I’m not a homebody. I like to be out, and I like interacting with people, so she did really encourage me to go back,” Babcock said.
Martha Rae, a native of Gary now living in Valparaiso, worked for IBM in Chicago from 1980 to 1992 before the days of the personal computer. During her time there, her roles changed, from starting in the mail room to human resources to sales and then marketing.
She left IBM to become a mom.
She eventually went into teaching, taking positions in Southern California, Texas and Virginia.
In 2007, Rae focused her attention on early childhood education.
“I always knew I would never stop working,” she said.
The 67-year-old Rae said people need to think about their retirement years.
“I never understood why people don’t spend as much time thinking about their retirement as we do the other big decisions in our life. We kind of either just keep going along or just do what our parents or grandparents did,” Rae said. “We need to spend as much time thinking about retirement as the other big decisions in our life.”
Rae said people need to stop using the word “retire,” and go with “retread” instead.
“The first thing I did for myself was stop saying retire. Instead of retire, you retread, because it’s like a tire. You have treads on a tire,” Rae said. “No one’s asking you to retire tomorrow, but maybe three or five years. We all know when it’s no longer fun or when we start not to be able to tolerate it as well as we used to, listen to that. Find out what you really like doing and just go for it.”
These days, Kirkpatrick is heeding the advice of those who say that, whatever you do in the next stage of life, make sure it’s something you want to do, enjoy or love.
“I want to take some time to travel, and I want to take some time to do some things with my family, which is kind of where I’m at the moment,” Kirkpatrick said. “I really enjoy traveling, and I’m trying to pick the things that I want to do.”
But he hasn’t given up on teaching others. He recently became an executive in residence at Valparaiso University.
And he is still weighing other options. Although Kirkpatrick has met with Stanford University’s Distinguished Career Institute, he so far is uncommitted on attending. •
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