New Castle County Government employees and friends held a retirement party on Monday for Janet Smallwood, who decided to leave the County after nearly 40 years.
The packed Managers Conference Room on the second floor of the New Castle County Government Center was a good indicator of just how well liked Mrs. Smallwood was in in Information Systems as well as in County Government as a whole.
County Executive Tom Gordon attended the event with Chief Administrative Officer David Grimaldi, Chief of Staff Jim McDonald, Chief Financial Officer Mike Coupe and Executive Assistant Franklin Cooke. Mr. McDonald, a former manager of IS, praised Mrs. Smallwood for her extensive expertise in technology. County Executive Gordon presented Mrs. Smallwood with a tribute as did New Castle County Council, through a resolution sponsored by Councilman George Smiley.
Janet Smallwood started as a computer programmer with New Castle county in 1976 and was subsequently promoted to programmer analyst, database administrator, applications coordinator, programmer analyst and, finally, systems analyst in an impressive career within Information Systems, more commonly known as Information Technology.
In a brief speech, Janet Smallwood thanked her co-workers and friends for attending her retirement party.
“I have enjoyed my time in in New Castle County thoroughly, 99 percent of time,” Smallwood said, eliciting laughter from the crowd. “I am going to miss working here, but it is time to go. Again, I just want to thank everyone for coming. It means a lot to me.”
Janet and her husband, John, have been married since 1975. They have one daughter, Jennifer Roberts; a grandson, Kellen; and granddaughter Isabella. Janet’s retirement plans include getting her health back and taking care of her mother, spending more time with her grandchildren, swimming, playing, and just relaxing and watching a movie with popcorn.
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