JOYCE SCHOULTE SAYS GOOD-BYE
Joyce Schoulte
By Pam Reinig
Register Editor
For the first time in nearly 14 years, Joyce Schoulte will breathe a bit easier when harsh winter weather strikes. Joyce is newly retired from her job as assistant office manager at Osborne Conservation Center. Among other things, that means she won’t be making the trip from her home in National to the Osborne Center, which is located five miles south of Elkader.
“I won’t miss that part of the job,” she said. “I’ll miss our regular visitors that I’ve come to know over the years, and the great staff that works here. But I won’t miss getting to and from work in bad weather.”
As the face of the welcome center at Osborne for more than a decade, Joyce has greeted visitors from all over the country. She’s amassed a wealth of knowledge about the center and what it offers, and that’s something that will be missed by her colleagues.
“Our office won’t be the same without her welcoming disposition,” said Jenna Pollock, Executive Director of the Clayton County Conservation Board. “We probably won’t fully understand what she contributes to our department until we experience her absence. It will be a big adjustment for all of us!”
Joyce is a native of Emmet County in northwest Iowa. She attended Iowa Lakes Community College and went on to receive degrees in math and elementary education at Mankato State College (now Minnesota State University, Mankato). For more than 20 years, she served students in Clayton County, first as a teacher in Garnavillo and later as a substitute and study hall monitor in Garnavillo, Elkader and Strawberry Point. She was also director of Shepherd of the Hills.
In retirement, Joyce plans to spend more time with her family, which includes her husband of 42 years, Roger, and their three grown children, Cindy Petsche and Katie Pik, who live with their families in Garnavillo, and Kevin, who lives with his family in Cedar Falls. The couple also has two grandsons. Retirement will also give Joyce more time to devote to church and community activities. She’ll be able to pursue her favorite pastimes, reading and sewing as well.
“I’ll probably be around (Osborne) in a volunteer capacity of one sort or another,” she added.
A continued commitment to Osborne is good news for the Conservation Board whom, Jenna said, “will greatly miss Joyce’s objective voice, impartial opinion and education expertise.”
The conservation board and generations of visitors, all of whom wish Joyce the best, will miss her smile, her knowledge and her efforts at making a stop at Osborne a memorable occasion.
