Pharmacy Clerk at 90 Still Works in Small Doses : Profile: Part-time employee Fayne Ottinger got his degree in 1928.

By ANNA CEKOLA

Jan. 31, 1994 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

LAGUNA BEACH — Some may think 90-year-old Fayne Ottinger has discovered a secret prescription for health and longevity at the pharmacy where he works at South Coast Medical Center.

But Ottinger, the oldest employee at the hospital, says the secret behind his ability to continue working at his age is based on simple family genes: His father lived to 86, while his grandfather and uncle made it to 96.

“As long as I feel like working, I’ll go ahead and work,” said Ottinger, who appears much younger than his age. “There’s a lot of work to do.”

Ottinger has worked as a pharmacist technician at the hospital since 1969 when, at age 65, he and his wife moved from Indiana to Orange County to be near their daughter, also a pharmacist.

In recent years, he’s been working as a part-time pharmacy clerk, which includes such duties as keeping various departments stocked with needed medical supplies. He drives to work from his home in Anaheim two or three times a week, arriving at 5:30 a.m. on the dot.

“He’s never been late once,” said colleague Rose Sparks, who’s worked with Ottinger for 15 years. “He’s an inspiration to us.”

Added pharmacy director Dennis Cada: “It’s Fayne’s attitude that keeps him going. I can always count on him. I couldn’t ask for a better employee.”

Ottinger, who grew up on a farm about 25 miles outside Indianapolis, has been working as a pharmacist since the days when pharmacists did everything by hand, mixing their own ointments and filling powders into capsules.

“Everything comes packaged for you now,” Ottinger said. “There’s been a lot of changes since I got into it.”

It was through a cousin who worked at a drugstore in Lebanon, Ind., that Ottinger developed an interest in becoming a pharmacist. He had decided early that he didn’t want to be a farmer, like his father and grandfather.

“I couldn’t get along with the hot sun and making hay,” he recalled.

After graduating from high school in 1924, he attended the Indianapolis College of Pharmacy and received his degree in 1928. While living at home and commuting to college by electric trolley car, a friend set him up on a date with his future wife of 61 years, Susie.

Ottinger started his career working as a pharmacist for a small chain of drugstores in Indianapolis, and eventually bought his own drugstore in the city.

That store, Ottinger Pharmacy, exemplified the soda fountains of the 1940s and ‘50s. One minute, Ottinger said he’d be scooping ice cream for a customer, the next filling a prescription.

He can still remember how to make some of those medicines, and how much he’d charge for an ice cream soda--a whole 20 cents. He constantly amazes his colleagues with detailed recollections, such as the rainstorm that cut short his first and only trip to the Indianapolis 500 back in 1928.

“He has never failed to make me laugh and smile on an everyday basis,” said Debbie Franks, a pharmacy technician who’s worked with Ottinger for 10 years. “He has a quick wit.”

Ottinger, who has one daughter, two granddaughters and five great-grandchildren, credits his family and colleagues for his work opportunities. He occasionally runs into hospital volunteers his age, but never employees like himself.

He is thankful for a long career he has always found fascinating.

As he summed it up: “Maybe I’m lucky, I don’t know.”