OFFICE OF ESCHEATS REFRESHING IN TODAY'S WORLD

One Missouri office still operates strictly out of huge, handwritten ledgers. Those ledgers are kept meticulously by a 94-year-old man and an 80-year-old woman, the two longest-serving state employees.

Frank Blankenship and Nancylea Hunt are the only two employees of the obscure Office of Escheats, which is responsible for the transfer of money to the government when there are no legal heirs to claim estates. Unclaimed inheritance money is kept for 21 years before it is turned over to the state public school fund, and it amounts to about $6 million.

Blankenship and Hunt post the names of the deceased and their would-be inheritors in the ledgers. And they occasionally order the release of some of the money.

The two love their work and have no intention of retiring. They work at the pleasure of the governor. The two are so well-liked that their jobs are secure for as long as they want them and are able to keep the ledgers.

In today's world of computerization, it's refreshing to see that some people are still operating efficiently the old-fashioned way.