In a nursing career that started during World War II and spanned seven decades, Alice Graber, 93, always made sure one thing never changed.

“It’s always a thrill when you can help somebody else,” Graber told TODAY.

The great-grandmother from Freeman, South Dakota, found out just how many lives she touched over the years when she decided to retire from nursing after 72 years last month.

About 150 people from the town of 1,300 showed up to honor Graber in a ceremony earlier this month at the Salem Mennonite Home, an assisted living home where she was working when she retired.

“I didn’t know what to think,” Graber said. “I was just flabbergasted.”

“She touched a lot of lives,” Shirley Knodel, administrator and director of nursing at Salem Mennonite Home, told TODAY. “She smiled the whole time, even though it was overwhelming to her.”

Head on over to TODAY to learn more about this amazing woman’s life!