Freshway Foods announced that Patsy Naseman, 28-year veteran of the company, is retiring. Naseman was the first associate hired when Freshway Foods was founded in 1988, and she will retire in May 2016.

Naseman is originally from Kettlersville, a village in Shelby County, OH. The oldest of 11 chidren, she graduated from Anna High School. Naseman worked for several years in the hospitality industry before joining Freshway Foods.Patsy Naseman

“My first job was waitressing at Hornes Restaurant in Sidney, OH,” Naseman said in a press release. “I also had jobs tending bar and housekeeping, but with the economy and raising two kids, I knew that wasn’t getting it so I went back to school.”

Naseman graduated from Edison State Community College in Piqua, OH, with an associate's degree in accouting. She also completed a program in office machinery at the local vocational school. After graduation, she worked at the A.M. Gilardi & Sons company in accounts receivable for about a year.

“I kept in touch with Frank and Phil after leaving A.M. Gilardi & Sons, and they contacted me when they founded Freshway,” Naseman said. “I was the first person hired at Freshway, and at the time, I shared a small office with Frank Gilardi. Phil had an office around the corner, near the production area, and we were the only people in the office. Our production area was one big room where lettuce was produced, and off to the side was a small specialty room for broccoli, caulilower and other items.”Patsy Naseman (center) receives 10-year service award from Phil Gilardi and Frank Gilardi in 1998.

Everyone pitched in and did what was needed in the early days of the company. Naseman handled payroll, accounts payable, accounts receivable, and she remembers one time she helped pick tip burn out of lettuce. “That was a new and interesting adventure,” Naseman said. “I’m on top of this ladder above where the lettuce is coming down, and after awhile it felt like I was moving and the lettuce was standing still. I only did that a couple of times, and I told Frank I didn’t want to do that anymore.”

As the company grew, Naseman moved into the customer service role she holds today. “I didn’t want to work in customer service at first; I was more comfortable doing the books,” she said. “Frank convinced me to try it, and I guess those years I spent working with the public helped. In fact, my whole career has been working with people.”

“Patsy has taken orders from every customer that we have ever had, and to this day there are customers who only want to give their daily orders to Patsy,” Phil Gilardi, owner of Freshway Foods, said in the release. “For over 28 years now, Freshway Foods has built a reputation in the marketplace as a customer-friendly, customer-first company that is easy to do business with and a pleasure to work with on a daily basis. Patsy had a lot to do with this. Since the very first day Patsy has been on the phone with our customers, taking their orders, responding to special requests, all through her positive, beautiful personality. To this very day that culture is alive and well at Freshway Foods.”Patsy Naseman (center) receives 25-year service award from Frank Gilardi and Phil Gilardi in 2013.

Naseman will be missed by many at Freshway. “Patsy has been a fixture at Freshway in the time I have been here,” Devon Beer, president of Freshway Foods, said in the release. “She is the only thing about Freshway Foods that hasn’t changed. You could count on her being here every day and you could count on her to be a total professional when it came to servicing our customers. No one knew their business better than Patsy. She is loved by her co-workers and customers, and will be sorely missed.”

Although much has changed in the 28-plus years Naseman has been a member of the Freshway team, some things have stayed the same. “The basics haven’t changed,” she said. “We are still customer service driven, and we do whatever it takes to serve our customers.”

“Frank and I have learned a lot from Patsy, and Freshway is a better company because of people like Patsy,” Gilardi said. “I hope that Patsy will stop by from time to time to see the team and perhaps pick up the phone and take a customer’s order.”

After her retirement, Naseman plans to read  and visit with family. She plans to stay in the area and will stop by Freshway from time to time to say hello. “I will miss the people the most — they are like family,” she said. “Everyone here is friendly and willing to work with you if you have questions."

With over 28 years of service at Freshway Foods, Naseman has seen it all. “It’s fast-paced, it’s fresh and it changes fast,” she said. “One day you’re fine, and the next day nobody has lettuce.”