Muriel ‘‘Mike” Jones received the Meritorious Civilian Service Award for work she accomplished while serving as Civilian Representative to the Board of Directors.

Seventy years ago this week, in 1939, the ground breaking ceremony for the original Naval Medical Center at Bethesda was held.

Jones has been a part of NNMC community for nearly 60 years.

‘‘Some people joke that I was here when the corner stone was laid for the building,” Jones said,

Jones first came to work for the hospital in November 1950 as a civil service employee clerk⁄typist in the personnel office. Over the years she has collected a wealth of knowledge, experience and history that is sought out by individuals in the hospital and the surrounding area.

‘‘She is a treasure trove of information,” said Nancy Walsh, an investigator for Bethesda’s Command Evaluation and Investigations. ‘‘She’s been here in this hospital [nearly] 60 years. She has been a great teacher and advisor. Anytime I have question about the organization or anything to have to do with civilian personnel, she always has answers ... she is revered by every civilian I know.”

If told go talk to ‘‘Mike,” she will probably have the information you need. A person might initially be thrown off by her name and who they are looking for.

When Jones came to work at NNMC, there was an older women in the office whose name was Muriel, which was an unusual name, Jones recalls. Everybody began to wonder how they were going to distinguish one from the other.

‘‘The first thing that came out of my mouth, not thinking, was call me ‘Mike,’ which was a name given to me by a girlfriend when I was a teen because I was a tomboy,” Jones said. ‘‘That was 58 years ago and now everybody knows me as ‘Mike.’”

Throughout the years, Jones has seen changes in building configuration, policies, staff and numerous VIP visitors. She recalls all of the presidential visits to the hospital since President Roosevelt and entertainers including Sheryl Crow performing for patients and staff at the hospital.

Jones considers herself the hospital’s unofficial historian. She recalls the historical committee burying a time capsule in 1992, which included pictures of the committee, different needles, syringes and other items that represented that era. The capsule also included a list of babies born that day and the names of their parents.

Retired Rear Adm. Dick Shaffer has worked with Jones each of the three different times he has served at NNMC, one of which was as the commanding officer.

‘‘There’s no doubt in my mind that Mike not only knows the history of this place but a lot of the history of the people,” Shaffer said, who now volunteers for the American Red Cross. ‘‘She has what you call staying power. She’s been here a long time and she knows a tremendous amount of the history of this place ... She can give you background more extensively than anyone I know on the compound.”

Whether it’s information on the hospital or people who have worked here, Jones will find the time to help as much as she can.

Jones has kept up with many former staff members over the last 20 years.

‘‘She can tell me where everybody is, what they’ve done, how many kids they have,” Walsh said.

Jones, a single parent who worked to raise her children and furthered her education, has had the opportunity to mentor civilians and her military counterparts throughout her career.

Since 1950, Jones has participated in numerous departmental and policy changes, as well as historical planning and events at NNMC. Now that various military hospitals in the National Capital Region are combining, she said retiring is not an option.

‘‘One reason I have not retired is I want to see how things work out,” Jones said. ‘‘I’m curious. I’ve been here all these years watching how the hospital has changed and expanded, as well as seeing the different styles of leadership from the various commanding officers. Now with the various military hospitals combining to form a joint task force, I want to see how these changes will fare.”

Jones is willing to go the extra mile to help people, whether they need help finding a file or just need information on protocol and etiquette.

‘‘She’s always got answers, she always knows how to do it, and she always knows what form you need to fill out,” Walsh said. ‘‘She is an institutional treasure.”