The City of Tampa honored its longest-serving employee on Friday, sending her into retirement after 63 years of public service.
WATCH: City of Tampa honors longest working employee after 63 years of service
Mary Bryan began working for the city when she was just 18 years old. Over more than six decades, she served in a variety of departments, including housing, code enforcement and zoning.
A crowd of former coworkers and friends lined up to take photos with her during her retirement celebration.
"I didn't know I had been here this long. It just slipped up on me," Bryan said.
Her career began in a different era of office work.
"I was the first person to have an electric typewriter in City Hall. Me!" she said.
As time passed, she witnessed major changes in technology and city government.
"Now look at it. We have everything. We even have, what is it? AI," she said.
Throughout her career, Bryan worked under 11 different mayors and 59 city council members.
"They worked so hard to make our city the best," she said.
In recent years, Bryan served as an aide to City Councilman Charlie Miranda, a role she held for the last 16 years.
"As long as I was in a job that I was able to help people. That's how I was brought up. I liked it," Bryan said.
Councilman Miranda praised her dedication and connection to the community.
"She really loves what she does trying to handle peoples' problems. And all cities are the same. And all cities are different. In this city there are a lot of things that the people need. She's the one that gets the first responders heard," he said.
As Bryan says farewell to her work family, she looks forward to spending more time with her loved ones. Her husband hopes to travel, but Bryan has her own idea of retirement.
"I want to just stay home and plant gardens. But I'm going to travel," she said with a laugh.
Her sendoff included plenty of hugs and even one last dance.
Bryan said the secret to her long career is simple. If you are going to work anywhere, it's great to love what you do especially if you stay there 63 years.
"He just never showed up"
What started as a project to make a bathroom more accessible for 80-year-old Sharon Shomaker turned into a family paying for a job without seeing any work and discovering the plumber they hired had no business taking the job.
