Though it once was common to know folks who would retire from their companies with 30, 40 or more years of service, such careers are harder and harder to come by in these days of downsized companies and mobile workers intent on chasing the best salary and benefits packages they can find.

The Suffolk News-Herald has not been immune to these changes. The newsroom here has regularly fluctuated in size and composition many times during the past few decades, and it likely will continue to do so, as reporters and designers and even the occasional editor come and go.

The newspaper’s advertising department, however, has benefited from the long and continuous service of two stalwart employees, Sue Barnes and Earl Jones. Today, we have the bittersweet honor of saying farewell to one of those fixtures of the Suffolk News-Herald, as Sue prepares to head into retirement after nearly 30 years on the newspaper’s staff.

She began her career here the day after Thanksgiving in 1983, having taken a 10-year break from outside employment while she raised her children. Her first job at the News-Herald was in a clerical position, but it didn’t take long for her supervisors to recognize Sue’s gift of gab and realize the potential she had as a salesperson.

Though there have been many changes at the newspaper during the ensuing years, Sue has been a solid presence at the News-Herald ever since. She has been the trusted advisor to business owners and managers all over Suffolk, the person who helped them plan effective advertising campaigns for the broadest possible market. She has been a partner to her clients, who have found her to be conscientious and eager to please. And she has been a public and sincere cheerleader for the newspaper that she has represented for all those years.

Sue looks forward to relaxing a bit during her retirement, to spending time with her husband and grandchildren, to sleeping in once in a while and — we have to guess — to leaving behind a bit of the stress that comes from nearly 30 years of daily deadlines. Though we will surely miss her, we cannot but acknowledge that her pursuit of this new chapter is most well-deserved and hard-earned.

All the best, Sue. Don’t be a stranger.