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Today is Joe
Smith’s day. Look at all the people who have
come to honor him and say farewell.
You
didn’t know did you, Joe, that so many people would be
celebrating your departure!
Seriously,
Joe has been an anchor in our marketing
department for the past 15 years. He was one of the first ones in every
day and
would watch these Gen X’ers and Y’ers come dragging in an hour after
he’d
finished his second cup of coffee. And he’d always have something
cheerful to
say before 8 a.m.
Sometimes it was
irritatingly cheerful for those of us who are night owls. (How could
someone
smile that broadly just after daybreak?)
He’s
definitely not like those people who come in late but
make up for it by leaving early.
Joe
was always here, grinning from ear to ear. I asked him
one time why he was always so happy and Joe told me, “You might as well
smile
because you’re here anyway and there’s no point in bringing anybody
else down
by complaining.”
That is a remark I
always associate with Joe. And far from
bringing anybody down, Joe has held up XYZ Insurance and kept the
marketing
team on a steady course for years.
He may have been
smiling all the time and he is able to
laugh at himself. Joe has also provided the rest of us with some funny
moments.
Remember that time
when his team developed the campaign with
the talking locks? The slogan of that campaign was, “XYZ makes every
house a
safe house.” This was Joe’s brainchild and his bright idea to the idea
was to
show everybody how we were the one property insurance company that
would make
every house a safe house.
The slogan – Let
XYZ Insurance put you in a safe house today
and tomorrow – was a great success until it was abrubtly ended. That
was the
same time, as you recall, that the Dubuque
police launched a raid on a prostitution ring that covered five states
and was
headquartered in a safe house here in Dubuque.
Suddenly Joe’s idea
of pitching XYZ as the backer of the
safe house didn’t seem to fit.
We all had fun
ribbing Job about his safe house campaign.
Looking back over
Joe’s career with XYZ Insurance, we all
have stories about special times with him. Others will mention some of
those in
a few minutes.
To Joe, I want to
say how much we admire your dedication to your
colleagues and this company. When Joe arrived at XYZ, this was a small
agency
with just 10 employees but with a vision of customer service that would
transform us into a major player in this market. And Joe has been an
integral
part of our growth and prosperity.
It’s the people
like Joe, who come into work with a smile,
make our clients happy and understand that we always have to keep
reaching and
improving our service …those people like Joe are the ones who have made
XYZ
Insurance the success it is today.
It’s impossible to
measure what Joe has meant to XYZ
Insurance all these years. And I know I speak for everyone when I say
this is a
bittersweet moment….saying goodbye to a friend and coworker who has
meant so
much. But we are all happy that Joe and Laura will have time to kick
back, pursue
new dreams and enjoy their grandchildren.
We’re now at the
point in a retirement party when someone
presents the retiree with a watch. That’s a tradition I have never
understood.
When someone retires and he no longer has to leave the house by 7,
worry about
making that 8:30 meeting and see that afternoon deadline getting
closer, …when
time is no longer a matter of urgent importance…why do his colleagues
present
him with a watch?
We don’t have a
watch for you Joe, but we do have some
memories we’d like to share.
It is obvious from
all these people gathered here that you
will be missed. We wish you and Laura all the best and know that your
smile
will be even broader now that you don’t have to take that commute into
work
every morning.
And
we know that if the Dubuque
police ever break up another safe house, we’ll have them call you
because
you’ll know what to say.
Joe and Laura,
would you please stand so we can say thanks.
(Lead others in applause.) |
include
members of the family,
some of whom may be elderly. A
safe option is to 