A life of service: Moss marks 50 years at John J. Pershing VA Medical Center

“It feels like time has flown by, like I haven’t been here 50 years,” said Moss, the facility’s kitchen supervisor, as she reflected on her five decades of service and impending retirement.

“I started in 1975, when I was about 17 years old,” Moss recalled of her first days on the job. “I was still going through high school. At first it was a summer program, then it was after school.” 

She continued to work at the facility part time, even as she studied at Three Rivers College, and when her work-study program hours ran out, she said her “boss pulled me off the (Civil Service Registry) list at the post office because she liked the way I worked, and I became permanent in 1980 or somewhere around there.”

In her early years at the medical center, Moss said, she primarily delivered food trays and worked in the dish room, among other tasks, but in 1992, she became the kitchen supervisor.

Known for her cool demeanor and firm, but loving supervisory style and fairness toward others, Moss can always be found doing any task necessary to keep her kitchen running in peak form. It’s something her team says sets her apart.

“She’s not too good to go in the dish room when we’re short-handed. That’s probably the lowest duty we’ve got, and she’s a supervisor who spends a lot of time in there,” explained Teresa Lewis, who’s worked for Moss the last 13 years. “She mops every morning and never says, ‘Oh, I’m too good for that’ or “I’m a supervisor, that’s not my job.’” 

For Moss, such tasks are all in a day’s work. “I’m a hands-on supervisor, and don’t like to sit at my desk,” she said. “People will see me sometimes and say, ‘I didn’t know you were a supervisor’ because I might be up on the floor delivering trays or I may be mopping the floors, and I have no problem with that because when we’re short-staffed, I’ll get my hands dirty, right along with the rest of them. I’ve been there and done that, so none of it phases me at all.”

Her staff loves her, saying she doesn’t play favorites and treats everyone respectfully.

“She’s very fair and she doesn’t get mad. She’s a very good supervisor who’s very caring and very good at her job,” said Robbin Miller, who’s worked with Moss for 25 years.

“I try to be fair, and I don’t down-talk anyone,” explained Moss. “If we’ve got a problem, I’ll pull them in here and they know I get to the point. I don’t beat around the bush, and I’m going to tell you like it is.”

“I appreciate that about her,” said Lewis, who noted Moss also maintains a cool demeanor, no matter the situation. “After all these years, it would be a rare thing for anyone to push her buttons.”

Team member Pam Tyler said Moss “never loses her cool. I always ask her how she did it for 50 years and she says, ‘You let it go and you don’t take it home.’ I don’t have the cool that she’s got.”

Veterans Canteen Service Chief Lora Ashcraft agreed, saying the staff “looks up to Moss because, even in times of uncertainty, she doesn’t seem to be phased. She is a sense of calm for them, but she also has that aura about her where you know she means business, like a mom … she’s been kind of the mom of the family down here, very loving to everybody.” 

Without doubt, one thing Moss is known for is being particular about how things are done in the kitchen.

“She runs a tight ship and keeps things clean,” said Lewis, while Joanne Miller, who previously worked with Moss, said she “puts a lot of pride into her work. She always puts the Veterans first.”

“I take a lot of pride in what I do, and I like to make sure everything is neat and clean,” said Moss. “I’m kind of particular, like when I’m checking trays on the serving line … I like everything in a certain place. I want these trays to look as if I was a patient. 

“If someone was to bring me a tray upstairs and it looked tacky, I wouldn’t eat it. So, I want their tray to look like it was mine. I want everything neat, and they all know it.”

Over the years, Moss said, she’s seen a lot of changes at the facility, from the closure of the former operating room, psych ward and ICU unit to staff turnover. “I’ve seen a lot of people come and go … directors and employees,” she said.

Still, the role of kitchen staff has remained essentially the same. Everything we do now, we did then,” Moss noted.

Now, as she celebrates 50 years of service to the Veterans, facility and coworkers she loves, Moss also has something else looming to think about: retirement. Her final day on the job will be Nov. 28, and admittedly, it’s something she never really thought about.

“People would always ask me when I was going to retire and I’d tell them I really hadn’t thought about it,” she explained. “Then they would say ‘when the time comes, you’ll know.’ 

“One night at home, I had a strange feeling come over me and it said, ‘Sharon, I think it’s time for you to retire.’ I just shook it off and didn’t think anything about it, but a week or two later, I got that feeling again. That’s when I decided I want to enjoy it while I still can.”

Her plan for retirement, she said, is to travel with her husband and see new sights.

“In a way I’m ready, but I’m not ready because I’m going to miss everybody around here. I’ve grown a bond with them, and I’ve been with some of them for a long time,” she said. 

“I’m really going to miss her,” said Lewis, a thought echoed by Ashcraft. “We’ll continue to work as a team, but there will always be a big gap there. We’ll feel it in our hearts, but hopefully not in our work,” she said.