In a remarkable milestone that few could imagine, GE’s Tony Rosa will celebrate his 70th work anniversary with GE on Friday, June 11.

You read that correctly — 70th work anniversary.

As the saying goes, “Things change overnight.” If that’s the case, one can only imagine how much change Rosa has seen over his seven decades at GE.

Rosa, a Staff Engineer and Technologist at the Lynn plant, graduated from the University of Connecticut in mid-1951 and began his stint in GE the next day. He had no idea he was about to embark on a journey with GE that would span 70 years and allow him to witness technological advances that few could ever imagine.

“When I first started, we relied on slide rules, log sheets and calculators . . . we didn’t have computers,” the 91-year-old said. “Now you can initiate and monitor an engine test while you’re actually sitting there.”

With his 70 year anniversary, Rosa is the longest continuous serving GE employee worldwide. During his tenure, he has seen many changes within the company and in the engineering world.

“The engine development instrumentation techniques have changed dramatically over the years. There are so many things that exist to improve the quality and quantity of work… it’s great. You have all these electronic tools that generate a ton of information instantaneously so you can be more precise and timelier,” Rosa said.

While Rosa has held numerous jobs and worked on several engine programs over the years, he said there was never a time when he didn’t enjoy his work, which is why he continues to do it each day despite being beyond the average age of retirement.

“Whenever you think your job is becoming stale, things would change, and new experiences would evolve – that’s the beauty of working in GE. And I always enjoyed interacting with all the people around me,” he said.

So, how does he keep going day after day? For starters, he completes a 20-minute stretching and low-impact fitness routine each morning. He works out Saturday mornings with a local Cross Fit trainer.

He also enjoys spending time with his two sons, one of whom is a lawyer and the other is a software development engineer.

Not surprisingly, Rosa’s long and successful GE career has enabled him to remain a contributor and an important part of the Lynn Engineering family.

“I don’t feel like an icon, but I guess a lot of people know me… or of me,” he said. “But I don’t want people to consider me an old relic. Just treat me like everybody else in our Engineering community.