Longtime sheriff’s worker to leave job, county
FARMINGTON – Laurie Draper has no idea what she wants to do next.
On Tuesday, Draper is leaving her job with the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department. Draper and husband Bill bought a house in Gray and plan to move there to be closer to family.
Draper has been with the Sheriff’s Department for more than 20 years, first as a corrections officer, then an emergency dispatcher, then the department’s secretary. She was promoted several years ago to office manager.
Among her responsibilities: maintaining the computer system.
“When I first started, we didn’t have a computer system,” Draper said. “Everything was processed by hand on paper.”
She got her first computer in the office in the early 1990s and learned how to use it on the job. Now the department has a system networked between the jail and the Sheriff’s Office.
Draper grew up in Phillips and was a member of the first graduating class in 1970 at Mount Abram High School in Salem.
She worked under three sheriffs: Pete Durrell, Don Richards and Dennis Pike.
“I have a lot of good memories,” she said. “I’ll miss a lot of the people.”
Draper’s hoping goodbyes Tuesday won’t cause too many tears. She doesn’t like to cry in front of others.
“It’s going to be like leaving a lot of good friends,” she said.
But it won’t be easy on her co-workers.
“Laurie is one of those people who will be hard to replace,” Detective Tom White said. “She has ‘been the hub’ of the office wheel for a number of years. Because of her several jobs in the department, she is aware of all our needs and wants.”
If Laurie is not at her desk at 8 a.m., some people literally stand at the windows, White said, “wondering where she is and if we will be able to make it through the day without her. We will miss her!”
Draper’s sister lives in Gray. With the move, Draper and her husband also will be closer to their two grown daughters. The couple waited waited until their daughters settled, with the idea that they would move closer to them once they did, Draper said.
The daughters settled in Westbrook and Yarmouth.
They’ll also be closer to Bill’s work as a truck driver for Irving Oil Corp. in South Portland.
dperry@sunjournal.com
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