Mildred Torney has lived a great deal of her life here in Alleghany and is a well-known local volunteer.

Torney stays busy volunteering here

A strong work ethic has kept Alleghany’s Mildred Torney on the go, volunteering at several organizations in the county.

“Volunteering is all I do anymore,” Torney said with a smile. “I worked all my life. After working during the war (World War II), I worked at Alleghany County Library for many, many years. When my husband got ill, I retired from that.”

Torney noted she remained at home alone for almost year following the death of husband, Guy.

“It’s not much fun living by yourself if you don’t have something to do,” she said. With that, she put in her first application at the local Hardee’s.

“I never thought of being hired,” Torney said, noting the response of the management was, ‘Oh, you’re exactly what we want.’ I worked there for six months and joined the Green Thumb program, which is a training for senior citizens.

“They put me back in the library for training and why they put me there, I’ll never know,” Torney continued with a chuckle. “I was there for three years doing that and then, I went to social services.”

Following knee surgery, Torney noted she needed something with shorter hours. Thus, she began her time with the foster grandparent program.

“I worked at one of the first child development center they had here (in the county); it’s gone now,” Torney said. “Then I worked a little while at Family Resources (Family Resource Center); and I’ve always volunteered.”

Torney’s volunteering ventures included Alleghany Christians Associated for Relief and Emergency Services, Sparta United Methodist Church, Alleghany County Chamber of Commerce, the Alleghany Board of Elections and “anywhere they ask me,” she said.

Return to Family Roots

Born in Montana, Torney, her parents, Willie and Laura Sturgill, and four siblings returned to Alleghany County, the home of her parents when Torney was 6-years-old.

“We came to North Carolina from Montana in a T-Model truck and we camped out on the road,” Torney remembers. “We had a huge tent, we crossed rivers and so forth and we camped all the way.”

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