Lots of laughter, stories, hugs, fond memories, and the aroma of barbecue filled the conference/courtroom of the Putnam County Sheriff's Office last week in celebration of Helen Nelson’s many years of service and retirement.
“It’s a good day for Miss Helen, but a bad day for the sheriff’s office,” Sheriff Howard Sills said. “Because 30 years ago, when I walked into this place, she was here. And your best employees are the ones you never think about.”
“Now, that’s a sad thing to say, but you don’t think about them because they’re always here,” Sills continued. “They do their job, and nobody ever complains about them. This lady has been here for 39 years, and for the last 30, she has always been here, and nobody has ever made a single complaint about her. She did her job in a critically professional way and was always dressed up pretty, looking like the queen.”
Sills, clad in a dress shirt and tie, said when he walked in that morning, someone asked if he had to be in court that day because he was all dressed up.
“And I told them, ‘That’s because Miss Helen will be dressed up,’” he said. “Look at her today, looking 30 years younger than she is. But we truly hate to see her go; she’s one of the great employees that I’m talking about, and I mean that with all sincerity. She was an absolutely perfect employee. We’re all going to miss her, but we want her to enjoy her retirement.”
To a round of applause from those in attendance, Sills presented Nelson with a plaque that read: “To Helen Hurt Nelson, in sincere appreciation and recognition for your 39 years of loyal and dedicated service to the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office.”
Nelson said she told Lt. Tracey Pitocchelli she didn’t need a retirement party, but she was all smiles as she thanked everyone “for coming out and sharing this with me today.”
Her husband, John, and several other family members also joined the festivities, which included a barbecue buffet and dessert.
As she prayed the blessing over the food, PCSO Evidence Custodian Janna Waddell thanked God for Nelson’s “dedication to this community. And we just ask that in her retirement days, that you surround her and her husband and family with good health and a special time together.”
During her early years at the sheriff’s office, Nelson worked as a dispatcher. That is when Pitocchelli first met her. Pitocchelli’s mother also worked at the sheriff’s office at that time.
“When Miss Helen was a dispatcher, I’d go down there and hang out, so I’ve known her since I was 14 years old,” recalled Pitocchelli, who is now in charge of the jail facilities. “So, I’ve known her practically all my life.”
“I told her she’s always been our little girl,” Nelson added with a laugh.
Nelson was moved to the jail division when a new computer system for dispatchers was installed, around the time Sills became sheriff.
Carlton McMichael, now retired from the PCSO, was a longtime coworker of Nelson. Sills asked McMichael if he would like to say anything before the dinner began.
“Well, she asked me not to say anything,” McMichael quipped, before describing a “boom box” Nelson kept at work.
“And every now and then, when we were having a slow day, she’d pop in one of them old-school CDs, booty scootin’ and all that,” he said, bringing guffaws of laughter from everyone.
“Now, tell them who liked that booty scootin’,” Nelson replied as she pointed her finger at McMichael.
“Me,” McMichael said between laughs. “And all that Clarence Carter stuff, too.”
Sills said that although a newly hired employee has already filled Nelson’s position, he was very sad to see her go.
“She’s one of those people you didn’t have to worry about at all, and she always looked immaculate,” Sills said. “People like her — everyone who doesn’t work road patrol or investigate crimes — need more recognition than they get. I tell people all the time, those people are just as important to the sheriff’s office as everybody else is.”