Yevonne Montoya will miss many things about her 21 years in the Linn County payroll department (her last day was March 31), but one thing she definitely won’t miss is implementing new software programs.
“I [did that] when I was with Young & Morgan [Lumber Inc.], Chemeketa Community College and twice for Linn County,” she said. “I don’t ever want to do it again.”
However, she will miss the people.
“I think of our employees as my customers,” she said. “I treat them just like customers and I want to help them the best I can.”
Born in Michigan as Yevonne Debrie, Montoya and her family moved to Sweet Home when she was 6.
She graduated from Sweet Home High School in 1976, where, she said, an aptitude for math set her on her career path.
Her mother managed Sweet Home’s Ben Franklin store, where Montoya learned about work and numbers from an early age.
As an adult, she went to work in the office at Young & Morgan in the Santiam Canyon, where she was responsible for human resources and payroll for 11 years.
“I was the only woman and I removed a lot of wood slivers for guys,” she said, laughing.
Later, she spent 11 years at Chemeketa Community College, then 21 years with the county.
Montoya won’t be lacking for things to keep her busy. She lives on a 6.5-acre farm near Scio, along with one cow, several free-range chickens, an apple and pear orchard and numerous rescue animals. (Montoya competitively showed champion cavalier King Charles spaniels for about 10 years.)
“I have a big garden and I guess my hobby is canning and dehydrating things,” she said.
Although she’s visited France, extensive travel probably isn’t high on Montoy’s retirement wish list.
“I am really a homebody,” she said.
Montoya enjoys finding out how things work and fixing them.
“I like challenges, the nuts and bolts of things and that is what made my job so interesting for so long,” she said. “This has been my best job ever.”
– Alex Paul, Linn County Communications Officer