Throughout the history of this newspaper, this space has been dedicated at various times to the memory of many great men and women from Suffolk. From governors to business leaders, from pastors to city officials and all sorts of public luminaries in between, the Suffolk News-Herald has made a point of memorializing many of the fine people who have made Suffolk a better place by their hard work and dedication to the city and its residents.

Today, we pause to honor — perhaps for the first time on this page — a waitress. But the late Shirley Winsor was not just any waitress. A fixture at George’s Steak House for the past 36 years, Winsor has met and served thousands of customers in her job as a waitress.

Only in the past year or so, as the 81-year-old began having trouble carrying trays of food, did she move from the floor to food preparation. She never would consider quitting, her family said this week. “She just loved being there and being with the customers and talking with the customers,” Philipps said. “She wanted to stay out there, and she wanted to stay working at George’s.”

Winsor started working there just a couple of months after the restaurant opened. George Taglis described her as a “very dependable and honest employee.” Customers agreed, taking to Facebook on Wednesday to register their condolences and their memories. “She was such a sweet and kind lady!” “… a wonderful woman.” “What a sweetheart and hard worker she was!” “Shirley was an amazing woman.”

Those are the kind of accolades that offer proof of a life well lived and a legacy that goes far beyond what might be expected from a waitress. Even in a position that many people might consider somewhat menial in nature, Shirley Winsor made a difference in people’s lives.

That’s a standard to which we all should aspire.