News Photo by Steve Schulwitz Alpena County Clerk Bonnie Friedrichs organizes Valentine’s Day decorations while at work on Wednesday. After 43 years of working for the county, Friedichs is retiring at the end of March. She said she intends to travel, spend more time with family, and use her kayak more.

ALPENA — Alpena County is losing one of its most tenured employees at the end of March and when she leaves, she will take a wealth of county government knowledge with her.

County Clerk Bonnie Friedrichs, who has worked in the clerk’s office for 43 years — many of them as county clerk — has decided to call it a career and retire to spend more time with her family, travel, and enjoy some free time.

Friedrichs will step down March 31. Chief Circuit Court Judge Ed Black will name her replacement, who will serve until the next election in August.

Deciding to retire was not an easy decision to make, Friedrichs said, but she believes the time is right to begin the next chapter of her life.

“I just feel I’m ready for this and ready for doing things I want to do,” she said. “I plan on traveling, there are a lot of places I want to see and things I want to do. I want to be able to take the kayaks out with my friends on nice days, so I don’t have to worry about wondering if I should take the afternoon off.”

When Friedrichs started work in the Alpena County Clerk’s office in 1979 as a typist, there were no computers and much of the work was done by hand. Since then, there has been a lot of change both in operations and in the way elections are conducted, Friedrichs said.

She said she’s pleased to know she helped guide her office and help the county in many capacities over four decades. Once she’s gone, she said there are things she will miss.

“I definitely will miss the people. The people that I work with and the people who come in to see us and do business,” Friedrichs said. “I will really miss just about everything. I’ve enjoyed most aspects of the job. That is probably why I have been here so long.”

When she looks at her entire body of work, Friedrichs said she is pleased at what she has been able to do, working side by side with her fellow employees, board of commissioners, and the public. She said keeping the office running smoothly and efficiently for many years is something she can hang her hat on.

“We have always been able to run a fairly smooth running ship,” she said.

Friedrichs understands that it is the residents in the county that she owes for her longevity. She said without them, things would be much different than they are now.

“Thank you for your support and thank you for believing in me and trusting me,” Friedrichs said.