Mitchell custodian hanging up her keys after 40 years

Imagine how many young faces Linda Easter has seen come through the doors of Andrew J. Mitchell Elementary School.

After all, she’s been working at the school as a custodian for 40 years, long enough to have seen the parents and even grandparents of the current enrollment.

“I was a mother helper at the school and I walked to school every morning with my two boys and the job came up, and it was for the night custodian, so I worked 3 to 11 p.m. every night,” she said. “Growing up I watched my mom fix everything and learned from her. It worked out well for my family. My husband worked day shift and got home around the time I was going to work.”

Easter is always busy at the school. It was evident during this interview when she answered questions while unfolding and wiping down the tables in the cafeteria in preparation for lunch Monday.

She has decided that four decades is enough and will be retiring at the end of May.

“My body is telling me it’s time to slow down,” she said. “My arthritis doesn’t like cold weather and my kids have been bugging me about it for the last two or three years that I should retire. So, it’s time.”

Easter arrives at the school every day at 4:30 a.m., then goes around to make sure what’s supposed to be open is just that and what is supposed to be closed is as well, turns lights on, makes sure each restroom is clean and stocked, sweeps outside, empties any trash cans and then helps out in the parking lot as teachers and parents begin to arrive.

Ben Day, who served as Mitchell’s principal for 13 years, said Easter has been invaluable to not only the school but the community as well.

“Prior to coming to Mitchell in 2010, I was used to dedicating a lot of time to ensuring that the needs of the physical school building were being met, but when I got to Mitchell, it didn’t take me long to see that Mrs. Easter was going to take that responsibility completely off of my plate, as she was on top of everything,” he said.

He said the two connected just about every morning at 7 a.m. when he arrived.

“During those quick meetings, I would have a list of things to share with her, only to find out that she already knew about the issues and had taken steps to resolve them,” Day said. “She was always multiple steps ahead when it came to taking care of the building, and I was so grateful for that.”

Day added that during the pandemic, Easter went above and beyond her job.

“I could never describe the list all of the things she did to help us stay compliant with a litany of regulations that were placed on us during that time, but she worked around the clock to ensure that we met all of those requirements so that our kids could attend school,” he said. “Mrs. Easter was never truly off the clock. She loves her school and the children deeply and that is evident in the way that she goes about her job on a daily basis. Her work ethic and commitment are simply unmatched.”

Easter said many of the students over the years have felt like children or grandchildren, despite her having 38 grandchildren and great-grandchildren of her own.

“The kids (at the school) treat me that way and I treat them the same,” she said as serving in the pseudo-grandmother role for many.

That carries outside the school as well.

“If I’m in the grocery store and the kids are running down an aisle and see me, they suddenly stop running,” she said, laughing, noting that if she’s coming straight from work, the kids can often hear her keychain, which has dozens of keys, jangling before they actually see her.

“My joke has been that if a kid is naughty, I tell them, ‘You know you can’t be doing that. Chances are I know your grandpa and grandma. I won’t tell your teacher, the principal or your mom and dad. But when your grandma and I sit down and have coffee, that’s who I’m telling.’”

When asked what’s she’s enjoyed the most about her 40 years, holding backs tears, she had a very quick answer.

“The kids,” she said. “It’s all the little things with them, I’ll miss. And the teachers. A lot of them have become friends and are like part of the family.”