Six members from the Seward County Community College staff will be retiring after this 2018-19 school year. Their work at SCCC will always be remembered and so will they, by fellow colleagues and students

The following staff members retiring are director of financial aid Donna Fisher, advising coordinator Patsy Fischer, English instructor Janice Northerns, director of admissions Bert Luallen, director of the bookstore Jerri Lynn Lyddon and administrative assistant to the vice president of academic affairs Mary Beth Matkin.

Among the six retirees, Donna Fisher has worked at SCCC for 25 years. She shared that she will miss the students, the staff and the positive environment.

“Additionally, I feel like SCCC is my home,” Donna Fisher said.

Her plans for retirement aren’t set but she plans to let God lead the way.

“I do not have any immediate plans. I will follow the plans that God has for me; his promise from Jer 29:11,” the financial aid director said.

Financial aid officer Tammy Garth, shared about Donna Fisher that “she’s such a family person, very caring, energetic and fun supervisor. She has a lot of knowledge.”

Additionally, Patsy Fischer sayid she will miss the students the most and her friend, director of student success center Frances Brown.

For future retirement plans, Patsy Fischer plans to spend more time with family as well as continuing to support SCCC. She plans to visit and attend her grandchildren’s school and athletic activities more often with her husband, as well as spending more time with her mom.

“My mom is 92 years old and we will possibly have her live with us in the future,” Patsy Fischer said. “My husband Tom and I also plan to continue to support the Saints & Lady Saints here at SCCC.”

Missing fellow colleagues and students at SCCC is a popular opinion among the retirees. Northerns said she will miss many things, but mostly the daily contact with her colleagues and students.

“It keeps the day interesting when you have someone to bounce ideas off of and also to vent about to over things that have gone wrong. I’ll miss Russ Reglin telling me that I am working harder than he is!” Northerns said, with a laugh.

While Northerns isn’t quite at the retirement age, that’s not stopping her from pursuing one of her biggest passions—writing. Northerns plans to focus on her poetry and to hopefully publish a book.

“I can’t wait for the opportunity to write several hours a day. I have enough poems for a book, but I need to redo the order of the poems and revise some of them before I send it out to try for publication,” Northerns added. “I might also write some creative nonfiction, and I would love to attend writing conferences and retreats.”

When that gets tiring, she plans to visit her family. Northerns has four grandkids in Wichita and two in Houston, Texas.

“I’m looking forward to spending more time with them, too. I could go on and on about my plans—I don’t think I’ll be bored for one single minute,” Northerns said.

Northerns can be described as supportive and has a loveable nature that will be missed especially by Mass Communications Instructor Sue Sprenkle. Sprenkle said that without Northerns’ friendship, she most likely would have quit her job after the first year.

“Janice is somebody you can ask anything to and she has an answer. She’s a ‘been there, done that’ type of person. She’s been the cheerleader for the college’s outcomes and goals. She will be hard to replace,” Sprenkle said.

Retiree, Bert Luallen, Director of Admissions, has left a lasting impression on his colleagues.

“Bert really is an old navy guy, he brought that discipline to the office. He has that goal-oriented mindset. He provided a straightforward kind of leadership,” admissions coordinator Eric Volden, said.

As for retiree Lyddon, she said she enjoys the students the most because “they keep me young at heart even though I am growing old, as well as the faculty and staff.”

Her plans include traveling and spending time with family. Lyddon has family living in Colorado so she will be traveling back and forth from her home in Liberal to her home in Colorado.

“I will be staying up there with family. As boring as it sounds, it’s a necessity so I plan on de-junking my house and I plan on sleeping in until 7 a.m,” Lyddon said.

Assistant director of the bookstore, Ruthie Luallen, mentioned that “It’s been fun watching her interact with the students and how she gets a kick of interacting and joking with them and talk with them.”

Mary Beth Matkin, administrative assistant to the vice president of academic affairs, is described as a positive person to have around and will also be missed around SCCC.

“She has always been very nice. She’s great with students so it’s nice to work in the same space with someone with a great positive attitude” executive assistant Lois Magner, said.