West Sunbury Judge of Elections Helen Sankey has held her elected office for 50 years. She stands at the door of the borough's voting precinct at the Presbyterian Church on Timer Avenue.

WEST SUNBURY — It’s been a year of milestones for Helen Sankey, who has spent more than half of her life helping borough residents vote twice a year.

Sankey turned 90 years old in September.

Today, Sankey hits another milestone: 50 years as West Sunbury’s Judge of Elections.

Sankey got her start as an elected official at the prompting of her father-in-law, Earl Sankey.

“He was very involved in the Republican Party,” Sankey said, “and he just asked me one time if I wanted to run.”

She won election to the position in 1965, becoming the top precinct official for the 100 or so West Sunbury voters.

Sankey’s said her first check as an elected official was for $15. Today she will get paid $135 plus $20 for travel.

Sankey worked in the cafeteria at Moniteau School District and raise six children with her husband, Arthur, all the while remaining West Sunbury’s Judge of Elections.

Sankey said she’s not sure what kept her coming back to the post.

“I just felt it was my duty, and I enjoyed doing it,” Sankey said. “I never thought I’d last this long.”

Sankey was last elected in 2013, and said she believes her current 4-year term will be her last.

“When you get up into your nineties, it gets a little harder,” she said.

As judge of elections Sankey is in charge of filling out all the precinct’s paperwork, escorting voters to voting machines and answering questions they have. She also oversees the precinct’s closing down, and prepares and posts the night’s results.