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Monday, September 14, 2009
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Part-time evolves into fulfillment
By MATT ERICKSON Staff Writer CROSSLAKE - Darlene Roach moved to Crosslake in 1991 with no intention of looking for full-time work.
Her husband, Robert, had retired from the Minneapolis Police Department and her job in the marketing division at IBM in the Twin Cities had been phased out.
Roach was ready to retire. But as she quickly learned, things don't always work out the way you think they will.
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Darlene Roach shared a smile Thursday as she stood at the Crosslake City Hall front counter. Roach, who has been a fixture in city government for more than 17 years, is retiring Oct. 2.
Brainerd Dispatch/Steve Kohls
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Within two years she found what she considered the ideal job - a part-time receptionist with the city of Crosslake. That position evolved into the full-time deputy clerk position and then the full-time clerk/treasurer position.
Now, 17 years after finding the perfect part-time job, Roach is ready to retire as a fixture at Crosslake City Hall. Her last day will be Oct. 2.
"You get to a certain age and it's time to pass the baton to someone younger," Roach said. "It's time for me to start enjoying my life, enjoying retirement basically. I've worked all my life."
In her almost two decades with the city, she seen numerous changes, the biggest of which has been fast-paced growth in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Darlene Roach
Family: Daughter Rolene Roach, son Romane Roach, four grandchildren and several stepchildren and stepgrandchildren.
Ideal job: A North Dakota native, Roach went to Minot State University to become a teacher, but her schooling only lasted a year. As everyone here knows, I wouldn't make a very good teacher, she joked. Instead, she considers the two jobs she's held, in marketing at IBM in the Twin Cities and as Crosslake clerk/treasurer, to be her ideal jobs. I've had had an opportunity to work both in the public and private sector, so that was great.
Best advice received: From former Crosslake City Council member Irene Schultz. She said, 'Darlene, don't worry about the things that haven't happened yet. When something goes wrong you'll have plenty of time to worry.' There's a lot of truth in that, so I try to live by that.
Oddest thing that's happened on the job: When she first started in the early 1990s, she received a call that the community center was on fire. My response was, 'Hang up and call 911.' All I would have been doing is relaying information back and forth. But there's been a lot of things like that over the years. You see a lot.
What she won't miss about the job: Elections. They're very hectic and you try to do your best. It's just very intense, very long days and you're doing the hard part of the job when you are most tired.
Hidden talent: That I used to be nice, because everyone kids me about being so mean, the jovial Roach said, referring to a joke between her and other city hall employees. Honestly, though, that says a lot for the camaraderie we have.
Ideal trip: Denmark to visit relatives. That's in my retirement plans. That's a trip you really can't take when you're working full time.
If you have a suggestion for an Everyday People feature, contact Kathi Nagorski at kathi. nagorski@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5859.
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"It used to be, 17 years ago, you could practically drive to work and not see other cars," Roach said.
Though she's ready to retire, she said she will miss the work, especially her co-workers.
"Everyone I work with became like family to me, particularly since my husband passed away in 2006," she said. "They really picked up caring for me, giving me a shoulder to cry on, being there when I needed help with something."
Crosslake employees will miss her, too.
City Administrator Tom Swenson described Roach as the go-to person for every city department for rules, regulations, ordinances, licenses and elections, just to name a few.
He said the clerk/treasurer position is crucial to the city, and the loss of Roach is the loss of 17 years of knowledge.
"I've dreaded this day for last three plus years that's she been threatening to leave but I'm glad we've been able to keep her as long as we did," Swenson said.
It will be a challenge, but Roach believes she will have enough to do to keep herself busy. She intends to sort out her house, scrapbook, start memory books of her life and of her children, become more involved in her church and volunteer to organizations in need.
She will also be able to spend more time with her two children, daughter Rolene Owns and son Romane Roach, who live in the Twin Cities but own cabins near Crosslake. Her retirement also means more time to spend with her four grandchildren.
One thing she won't be doing is moving. For Roach, Crosslake will always be home.
Another thing she won't be doing is worrying about Minnesota winters.
"The one thing I'm looking forward to is not having to shovel snow in the morning before I go to work. I tell you, that was getting the best of me," Roach said. "I'll get up in morning, have my coffee, enjoy "Good Morning America" and go and shovel when the mood hits."
MATT ERICKSON may be reached at matt.erickson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5857.
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