CHICORA — Officials in Chicora have bid farewell to the woman who took over as borough secretary in March 1989, and became an integral part of the borough’s daily operations.

Donna Callihan made her retirement official this past Monday. She has been replaced by Joanne Fair.

Callihan, 75, helped run the borough for 27 years from her home on Central Avenue, in a capacity she maintains was part time but was marked by excellence, according to Chicora Mayor Lisa Nagy.

Nagy said Callihan was knowledgeable and experienced, and her retirement leaves the borough without one of its most dedicated public servants.

“She was invaluable to the borough council, and always going above and beyond her responsibilities as far as putting in time and effort to help the council in various things,” Nagy said.

In Chicora the secretary’s job responsibilities include preparing the municipality’s budget, participating in the annual audit, keeping minutes at government meetings, managing communications between council and outside groups, overseeing the borough’s accounts payable and receivable, and keeping elected officials abreast of meetings and developments at the state level.

“There’s so much that she does. If I called her about something, she would jump,” Nagy said. “She never hesitated.”

Callihan said her nearly three decades at the borough were marked by mostly “everyday things” such as meeting people, managing the daily workings of the borough and learning new government regulations as they came along.

“You have to be patient, and you have to know a lot of stuff,” she said.

Callihan said her favorite parts of the job were “just meeting people everyday” and attending council meetings.

“It kept you informed (of) what they planned on doing,” she said.