Retirement Doesn’t Figure for Pottery Shack Accountant

Since Paula Lovelady became the Pottery Shack’s accountant in 1952, the store’s ownership has changed four times, hundreds of employees have come and gone, and computers have become a fact of life.

Indeed Lovelady, 78, who last week was honored by her co-workers for 45 years of service, has witnessed considerable change as the business has grown.

Since she started, the store’s vendor list has ballooned from “a couple hundred” to 1,600, manager Bill Diemert said Monday. And the number of items for sale has mushroomed from fewer than 5,000 to more than 60,000. Through it all, Lovelady has been the store’s only accountant.

“Basically, it’s Paula,” Diemert said. “She is one of those persons that is truly rare. She loves what she does, and she does it so well.”

In turn, other employees say, Lovelady has become well-loved by her co-workers.

“She always smiles and says ‘Hello’ and ‘Good morning,’ the things we tend to forget when we get busy,” co-worker Kelly Gazich said. “We’d be lost without her.”

That may be something they won’t have to worry about. At least for a while. Lovelady, who works a 40-hour week and still runs home at noon to prepare lunch for her husband, has no plans to retire. Lovelady said she still finds accounting “intriguing” and is happy with her job.

“I like the people, I like the work and it’s close to home,” she said.