Three Fort Worth women work side by side for TCU Dining Services. Not only are they co-workers and friends, they are also family.Shirley Camp, 63, her daughter Sandra Camp, 38, and her granddaughter Julia Barnes, 16, represent three generations of a family that serves students each day in the on-campus dining facilities.

Sandra Camp said she chose to work for TCU when her mother, Shirley Camp, who has worked for Dining Services for more than three years, told her about an opening two years ago in September.

The job site was convenient for her because she would save gas money driving her daughter to school, Sandra Camp said.

Sandra Camp worked at The Main cash registers, which she lovingly referred to as her “crazy little corner,” until about a month ago when she moved to Edens, she said.

“The days are fast in Edens.” she said. “I make salads and occasionally work the wok. I’m always here and there,” Sandra Camp said.

Shirley Camp works in The Main and Barnes works in both The Main and Frog Bytes, said Stan Rush, retail manager of Dining Services.

The youngest of three brothers and a sister, Sandra Camp said she still feels and acts younger than she is.

Erin Primm, junior early childhood development major, said Sandra Camp is enthusiastic and fun.

“She’s so nice all the time,” Primm said. “She’s always smiling and friendly.”

Sandra Camp said she tries to stay upbeat on the job.

“I like to sing while I’m at work,” Sandra Camp said. “I try to always have a good attitude or at least put one across whether I am or not.”

She said she likes most everything about work but especially the students.

While Sandra Camp jokingly fought with co-worker David Sanchez about refilling plastic cups during lunch Sunday, she told him, “I take care of these kids like they’re my own kids.”

Sanchez, 17, a senior at Paschal High School and one-year co-worker, considers Sandra Camp a good friend.

“She is really cool and we talk about a lot of things,” Sanchez said. “She likes to get things done quick and works really hard.”

Sanchez attends school with Barnes, a junior at Paschal.

Barnes plans to attend Sam Houston State University after graduation, Sandra Camp said.

“That is her first choice, and I have no doubt she’ll get in,” Sandra Camp said.

A working mother of four and wife of a man, Tony, with a serious back injury, Sandra Camp said she does not have much time for fun anymore.

“Work is the most fun I have,” Sandra Camp said. “You have to make your day fun or else it’s just work.”

Working at TCU and collecting her husband’s workers’ compensation checks provide the income for her family, Sandra Camp said.

“I don’t need any more than I want, but I don’t want any more than I need,” Sandra Camp said. “I don’t live a lavish lifestyle, but if I had a lot of money I still don’t think I would.”

This close-knit family likes to spend time together both on and off the job, Sandra Camp said.

Sandra Camp said she and her mother have worked together at about six different jobs, while the rest of the family has also worked together on numerous other occasions.

Sandra Camp said it is comforting to know she is surrounded by her family even though they do not get to work alongside each other often.

“We also like to go camping, well, minus my mom,” Sandra Camp said. “I don’t think she’d fare well with camping.”

Sandra Camp said she was unsure if the next generation would follow suit, but students said they would like to see this tradition continue.