The last holdover from Roy’s Market in downtown Felton has retired from her job as checker at New Leaf Market after more than 30 years at her post.
Joan Lorenzana of Lompico began working at Roy’s Market “sometime in the early 1980s” and continued with the store through the changeover to New Leaf in the 1990s.
“It’s the community that kept me there,” Lorenzana said this week following a July 3 retirement party at Redwood Pizza in Felton. “That was my motivation. It wasn’t like work, it was like interacting with friends.”
Lorenzana began work at Roy’s Market in the 1980s as a checker before moving to the bulk department for a time. However, she enjoyed checking and spent the majority of her career behind a register, working the swing shift from 2:30 p.m. to closing as a manager on duty.
Lorenzana was a valuable employee, according to New Leaf owner Bob Locatelli.
“I appreciated all her years of service,” Locatelli said. “She was an absolute beacon at the front of the store.”
She was known by townspeople and the other employees, Locatelli said, for the many different clothing combinations she wore to work.
“She always wore unique clothing, in good taste of course,” he said. “You never quiet knew who she would dress as. It was wonderful.”
One of Lorenzana’s fondest memories was the response of Nick Pagnini, the owner of Roy’s Market, following the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake.
“It was lovely to see Nick’s response to the community,” she said. “He gave out food, batteries, flashlights — he did all kinds of good.”
As times have changed in Felton, they have also remained the same.
“It’s just grown, grown and grown and yet it still has this community feel about it,” she said. “SLV is pretty special.”
In retirement Lorenzana said she plans to visit her sister in Texas. An antique collector of sorts, she also has plans to refinish and sell some of the antiques she has collected.
She will remember her time as a checker fondly.
“It’s been a great place to work,” she said. “It was lovely.”
