Joan Church, the recently retired chief property tax assessor of Habersham County, is not a woman of many words, and she had only a few when the county threw her a retirement party Friday afternoon.
“I never expected to live so long,” she told the crowd of some 45 county officials, staff, family, and friends, getting a big laugh. For the most part, Church spoke individually with attendees, some of whom she said she hadn’t seen in years.
Church just last month closed out her 57 years in the county’s employ—the longest service of any county employee in its history.
County Commissioner Bruce Harkness, jovially working the room amidst balloons and flowers at the Ruby C. Fulbright Aquatic Center, said, “She’s done wonderful things for us. We’re going to sorely miss her…she’s irreplaceable. Well, we’ll replace her, but she’s irreplaceable.”
A table full of Church’s former employees and co-workers could do nothing but sing her praises. “She’s the heart of Habersham,” said Danielle McMillan, an administrative clerk in the assessor’s office. “She’s very endearing to work for and passionate about what she does…She taught me that I can do anything; there’s no limit.”
McMillan went so far as to call Church “Christ-like in the way she carries herself and treats people.”
Gwen Sembroski, a software provider from Charlotte, North Carolina, worked with Church for years. She made the 4-hour trip from Charlotte to Clarkesville to celebrate her former colleague at Church’s retirement party.
Craig Norris, Church’s nephew, is a teamster in the film industry. As a boy, he, like many others, relied on his aunt for her uncommon kindness. “When my father (Church’s brother) was away in Los Angeles, I stayed with her for maybe 10 months.” He is still taken with her and said he’s visited her as often as he could throughout his life.
Leah Bramlett, one of Church’s two daughters, is a counselor in the Habersham school system, and smiled that perhaps the party was overdue. “I’ve been trying to get her to retire for years,” Bramlett said. “Now she can volunteer; she can spread the love,” noting that her mother is already a volunteer bookkeeper for her church.
Perhaps other charities and good causes will benefit from Chruch’s 82 years of life experience. Friday, as she joked and shared stories with her well-wishers, she didn’t give the impression of someone who intends to slow down.
