MARQUETTE — A longtime Marquette city employee and facet of the community will be retiring this month — Jane Palmer, who has been the Marquette Senior Center Coordinator since 2006, will retire Nov. 21 after 34 years of service to the city of Marquette.

Palmer began her career in the city’s water department with public works, then, around a year later, transferred into the city’s parks and recreation department. After seven years with the parks and recreation department, Palmer transferred to the Marquette City Senior Center, where she has worked for the last 27 years.

Through Palmer’s decades of service, she has seen many changes at the senior center.

“I feel like I’ve just seen so much good come to the center and so much good come to the seniors in the community,” Palmer said.

During her time at the senior center, Palmer said she has worked with others to bring programming involving the arts, outdoor recreation and much more to the center.

She aimed to expand the horizons of seniors in the community by working to “program things that they couldn’t picture themselves doing or wouldn’t picture themselves doing,” she said, noting that many found they enjoyed the new experiences offered through the center.

Palmer credits the mentorship provided by the late Karl Zueger, who was director of community services for the city of Marquette during part of Palmer’s career, for many of her successes.

“He pushed me to expand my horizons as far as programming for the arts,” she said.

Zueger also encouraged her to start the Silver Sampler outdoor recreational program for local seniors, she said.

Through this program, they’ve done everything from “hiking, to downhill skiing, to snow-biking, to zip-lining, to kayaking, snowshoeing, stand-up paddleboard,” Palmer said.

She views the program as not only one of the major achievements of her time at the center but something that was personally “life-changing” for her, as it encouraged her to step out of her own comfort zone.

Palmer also credits Zueger for his help with of the most challenging, yet most rewarding achievements of her career: campaigning for, and passing, a millage for senior services in the city of Marquette.

“Back when the city budget was looking at eliminating the senior center, again, under the direction of Karl Zueger, he said: “We’re not going to let the senior center and the seniors in the community fall by the wayside. We’re going to put together a millage campaign, we’re going to go for our own millage,’” Palmer said. “I had never even dreamt of doing that, and it was probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, definitely one of the most nerve-wracking things, but pulling together with community leaders, we were able to get the millage passed and then since every time the milage renewal has come up on the ballot, it has just passed with unbelievable numbers.”

Along with Palmer’s notable professional achievements, she is also grateful for the many special relationships she has been able to have with local seniors, noting that senior center attendees have become like “an extended family,” to her.

Vi Dupras, a senior center attendee who has known Palmer throughout Palmer’s entire career at the senior center, knows she will miss Palmer dearly.

“Jane is a very very nice person, she’s an asset to the community, she’s an asset to our senior club,” Dupras said. “She’s very outgoing and happy-go-lucky, you couldn’t ask for a better person.”

Palmer will also miss Dupras, who she said is her “go-to senior,” as Dupras is always willing to lend a helping hand.

While Palmer acknowledges that “leaving is hard, saying goodbye is hard,” she is filled with hope, noting “this goodbye is not going to be forever,” as she will still run into her seniors in the community and when she attends center programming herself.

She also looks forward to seeing what the future holds.

“With change comes the opportunity for a new person to come in with new ideas and a new outlook and for that, I am extremely excited for the future of the center and of the seniors,” Palmer said.

Furthermore, Palmer is confident that the city and the senior center are being left in good hands.

“In all of the time that I’ve been here, I’ve worked for numerous mayors and city managers and commissioners and I’ve seen employees come and go,” she said. “I feel that my leaving, the timing of my leaving, I’m very fortunate that Mike Angeli is the city manager, that I’ll be leaving under his leadership and a very strong commission.”

Many have asked Palmer if she has a plan for retirement — her plan, she said, is “to not have a plan for at least one year” and give herself time to adapt to retirement after a long career.

“When it’s a beautiful fall day and the sun is shining and the temperature is right, I can do what I want to do and I’m really excited, I’m really excited about that,” she said.