WHO: Patricia A. Rabideau, 63, deputy St. Lawrence County clerk. She retired Friday after more than 28 years working for the county.

YOU MOVED TO CANTON FROM PLATTSBURGH ALMOST 30 YEARS AGO. HOW DID YOU COME TO WORK AT THE COUNTY? "Mr. Chuck Kelly gave me a position at the St. Lawrence Plaindealer in the subscriptions part. Then I took county tests. In May, the late, honorable Don Logan hired me as an index clerk and I've been here ever since. I was a motor vehicles clerk. I did everything, I wasn't a supervisor or anything like that. I worked 20 years in motor vehicles and eight with Patty up here."

HOW CLOSE ARE YOU WITH PATRICIA A. RITCHIE, COUNTY CLERK? "I was the one who put a bug in her ear about running. I said, 'Patty you should do it.' We know our county is thankful that she did."

IS RETIRING BITTERSWEET? "That's the sad part. I'm ready to leave in a way because of my age, but I love my job. I love working for the county. I like people. I like dealing with and helping them out when they have problems."

ANY FOND MEMORIES? "It gave me the opportunity to go back to school. I had three kids, so I went on lunch breaks, before work and after work. I got an associate's in business administration. I got my degree 20 years after I graduated high school. Naturally, when you're at the lower levels you want to do better, but I never ended up really using it. At least I did it."

YOUR DMV OFFICES HAVE A GREAT REPUTATION. WHY? "Patty has always hired people who would go the extra mile. She wanted people in there that would improve the image of the DMV."

HOW HAS THE DMV CHANGED? "There's been a lot of changes. We used to get the mail-in renewals, which were easy. Then the state took them to Utica and gave us the harder stuff like the conditionals and restricteds, insurance lapses and suspensions. What the state did was take the easy things and leave us the harder things like enforcement."

WHAT WILL YOU DO? "December 1 I'm going to Arizona and March 31 I'll come back. I'm going to a seniors park out there to get away from the winter. I'll be golfing and all that. I have three children, four grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Most of them are in the area, some aren't, so I may travel."

IS RETIRING EASY? "I plan on being around if they need me."

If you know someone who would make a good subject for a Q&A, contact Alex Jacobs: ajacobs@wdt.net.