After she realized that perhaps she wasn’t the leader to take the college to the next transition the province is going through, Pembroke campus long-time dean Karen Davies made a difficult decision to retire early.
An early retirement party was decorated in a golf theme at Waterfront Campus on Feb. 7. The college team and many friends of Davies attended the party. Also, Zephyr Symphony Orchestra added a nice touch of music to the party that they donated as a gift to Davies.
Fred Blackstein the former Board of Governor representative hosted the party with lots of humor and tears. The event started with photos of Karen Davies with her team through the years.
Pembroke’s mayor came out to help celebrate Davies’ retirement.
“On behalf of the city I want to thank you for all you’ve done to make Pembroke a great place to study,” said Pembroke Mayor Mike LeMay. Davies was presented a certificate of appreciation from the city by LeMay.
Davies preferred to record her message, where she thanked everyone who made it to her party and who couldn’t make it. She thanked her team individually and talked about her journey.
In closing, Davies talked about the importance of post-secondary education and went through some history to give an idea to Jamie Bramburger, the acting dean of Pembroke campus.
“My success is due to the support and the trust that all of you have given me. I could not have done this without you,” said Davies, ending her message.
She also received another gift from Blackstein: a shovel with a picture of her and other team members, at the back of it and a “Congratulations, well done,” message.
Bramburger started his speech by talking about his work relationship with Davies — including a joke about how he witnessed her speeding tickets and how she has been a witness of his avoiding her speeding tickets.
He also mentioned how much he trusts her and how pleasant working with her was.
“The best way you can find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them. I trusted her, she trusted me. That’s why it worked,” said Bramburger, ending his speech.
“It is not about me, it is about this community. It is just so special,” Davies said.
Her family did not see her much over the last 12 years because of the workload. Davies realized that is it time for her to reclaim her self with her family, have some fun, do some traveling.