MARLBORO — After nearly 24 years as town clerk, Nora Wilson formally retired, handing the job over to department partner Forrest Holzapfel.
A state government official once said that he wished Wilson could be cloned for every town clerk position in the state.
Wilson's retirement did not come as a sudden shock to the Marlboro town office, however.
Holzapfel, who was the assistant town clerk and head town lister at the time, said she first brought up her plans to retire two years ago, at which point the Selectboard decided to appoint him until town elections.
Holzapfel, because he is running unopposed for a three-year term, said he would probably be a “shoo-in.”
During his time working as assistant town clerk since 2005, Holzapfel focused mainly on recording town land records, including deeds and mortgages. He described both positions as having a “massive amount of facets, requiring meeting deadlines and following laws.”
Holzapfel's character, Wilson felt, matched these aspects perfectly.
“He's been a town lister for a long time, and when you're a lister you're very familiar with the records that are in the custody of the town clerk,” she said.
“He's been in the office for years, and that is a solid base for an understanding of how it all works which will place him in very good stead,” Wilson added. “He's extremely reliable, very detail oriented, thoughtful, and fair. I can't imagine anyone who would be better for the job.”
As town clerk, Wilson led work on town records, but was also seen as the point person for the town and the voice at the other side of the line on calls to the town offices.
Wilson assumed the position following former town clerk Harold Makepeace's retirement in 1989.
Although she had previous experience in bookkeeping, Wilson arrived with no clerking experience and without an assistant.
Through discussions with other town clerks in Windham County, and using the state municipality guidelines, she learned much of how to do the job well.
“It was much slower then, and it was a smaller office,” she said. “There are currently around 700 voters, and there were only 300 then.”
Digitizing town records
“I learned a tremendous amount from her,” Holzapfel said of Wilson. “What's great is she's also just a phone call away and willing to help me through things.”
He said he hopes to emulate Wilson's work, while simultaneously working on digitizing and making available online many of the town's records, starting with town maps and grand lists.
He said he hopes that effort will provide residents with a much-expedited method of accessing local municipal information.
He continued, saying he has been on the town listing committee since 2005 and understands how long it takes to fully understand the ins and outs of a position.
“Now I'm realizing just how broad her knowledge was in all kinds of topics having to do with the functioning of the town through her eyes,” he added. “I feel privileged to be able to take this on and do the best job that I can do.”
A helping hand
Even after retirement, Wilson has continued lending a helping hand to the town.
She is working from home on submitting a request to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for money to repair the last of the bridges in town that were damaged during Tropical Storm Irene.
The announcement of a second grandchild was the tipping point in Wilson's deliberations over whether she should retire. She said she was glad to be able to spend as much time as she wanted with her family without the stresses of work.
As soon as she stopped working on Dec. 31, “I started doing things that I've been putting off,” she said. “Once it's spring, I'll be gardening more than I usually do and helping out my son and daughter-in-law with the children.”
“Thank you so much to the people of Marlboro for electing me for 23 wonderful years,” she said.