After working 30 years for the Village of Oxford, Rose Bejma will be retiring from her postition as clerk on July 15.
Bejma was born in Detroit and graduated from Pershing High School in 1967 and began working at a tool-and-dye shop.
Soon after, Bejma met her husband Michael and got married in 1970, moving to Lake Orion for Michael’s job at the Chrysler Corporation.
Bejma attended classes at Wayne State and Oakland Community College while caring for their three daughters; Karen, 33, Theresa, 30 and Sarah, 29.
When her husband was unfortunatly laid off from Chrysler, Bejma said she was forced to find a job.
In 1975, a position opened up for a bookeeper at the village. She applied for it and was hired right away.
Bejma eventually became Deputy Clerk and then recieved her clerk certification in 1988. She became Village Clerk in 1989 and has been there ever since.
Although Bejma said she’s ready for a break, she will miss her co-workers dearly.
‘They’re like a second family to me,? she said.
After a nice, relaxing vacation with her husband, Bejma will be returning to the village to help aqquaint the new clerk, Christine Burns, with the ins and outs of the job.
‘She’s a very nice compliment to the village,? Bejma said.
Bejma will be working part-time until December of this year. After that, she doesn’t know if she’ll stay on part-time. One thing she’s sure of is that she still wants to stay involved with the village.
‘I hope to someday run for village council,? she said.
In the meantime, Bejma plans on spending all of her free time with her five grandchildren and getting to ‘re-know? her family.