By Ursula Duddy
Reporter
There was a touching farewell for a much-loved and familiar face in the school community of St Paul’s Primary School last week.
79 year old Pearl Walsh, the beloved ‘lollipop lady’ for the Slievemore School bowed out of school life amid cheers and tears.
Pearl began working at the school almost 15 years ago following the death of her late husband, Phil, and sadly, due to her battle with cancer, she has had to retire from the job she loved so much.
She was deeply touched by the gestures from the staff and pupils of St Paul’s and was lost amid a flurry of children smothering her with hugs and kisses as she said her goodbyes.
“It was great,” said an emotional Pearl.
“I had to stop myself from crying because I’m very soft like that. All the wee ones gave me cards today and they’re lovely.
“I loved every minute of my job and I loved all the wains, I really loved all of them, they were good wains.”
Pearl remembered the many good years she had at St Paul’s, packed with amusing anecdotes.
“I loved getting up in the morning and the wains would say ‘Aren’t you my Granny?’ and I would say, ‘Sure I’m everybody’s Granny!’” she said.
“I have a big thing for earrings and I used to wear different ones every day and one day a wee boy said to me ‘Where do you get your earrings?’ and I said, ‘Sure, the Queen sends me on all her old ones that she doesn’t want.’
“Then I was out collecting something for the school one day and a woman answered the door and said, ‘Oh, are you the one that gets all the earrings from the Queen!’”
In a tear-jerking farewell, Pearl said: “I just want to tell everybody thanks for everything, for keeping me so happy because I missed my husband; he was only six months dead when I got the job.
“And all the teachers have been so nice, they never looked down on me being the wee lollipop woman, they always treated me like one of them.
“Every one of them, the canteen, the classroom assistants, the cleaners…they’re the best bunch of people I know and I really enjoyed every minute of my work.”