Senior Class - Week 27. “Taxi, Taxi!”

She wanted to spend her retirement years traveling but didn’t imagine it in this form.

In the late 1970s, Dorothy “Dottie” Welch, of Nashua, lost her husband Raymond, 56, a taxi driver, to a heart attack.

“I was expecting it,” Welch said. “A couple weeks before he died, he said, ‘You know, I’m getting worse day by day. I can feel it. I don’t know what you are going to do without me.’”

Welch decided to take up Raymond’s profession but says she’s not “driving in his memory ” and is at peace with his passing. She stuck with the taxi industry because she knew the business. She was already working for a local cab company at the time in an office role. It only made sense to get behind the wheel.

“I can’t find anything I dislike about it,” Welch said. “I like being out here. I like being with people. I like talking to people. So for me, this isn’t for everybody, but for me it’s fine, it’s good.”

It began in 1978 and at 85 years old, she is the oldest full-time cab driver in Nashua. Her chauffeur license on her visor displays a bold number one to prove it. “I’m number one, I guess,” Welch said. “I’ve been driving longer than anyone else,” she said with a laugh.

Don’t let her age fool you, though. She has a quick wit and will bring a smile to your face by the time your ride is over. She’s healthy, has good vision and has a clean driving record. She doesn’t rely on GPS to get around the city and she is a requested driver by regulars.

“I don’t drive fast, I don’t let people aggravate me,” Welch said.

It’s uncertain when the office on wheels will close, but one thing is for certain: She’s in it for the long haul.

“People ask me when I’m going to retire, I tell them I don’t know,” Welch said. “When your health goes, then I’ll have no choice. But so far, so good.”

To request a ride from Welch call Nashua Taxi at 882-7444.