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Academic Affairs to miss 30 years of commitment
Kat Mabry / Roundup
The faculty members in the Academic Affairs office will miss a faculty member who retired May 1, following 30 years of commitment to her work and colleagues.
Barbara Heller, who is originally from New York, began her career as a senior secretary in the Los Angeles Community College District in July 1981.
Heller moved to California in 1981 when her husband was transferred. She first took employment at Los Angeles Valley College and stayed for only two months. When a job with a better title opened at Pierce College, she found her home.
Heller worked as a secretary for Phil Stein, Coordinator of Admissions and Records, for 15 years.
Stein was a hands-on dad, according to Heller. She attended both of his daughters’ weddings and knew his wife well. According to Heller, everything stopped when one of his daughters called.
She felt like more than a secretary.
“A lot of kids kind of turned their noses up, like ‘secretary’ you know, outta date and all that,” said Heller. “But I feel that they all got to go to college because we went back to the work force.”
Heller graduated from Long Island University and majored in elementary education.
“I wanted to be a teacher, but found it harder to get a job,” said Heller.
Heller was known to wear a necklace designed by a California woman from the Vietnam War era.
The necklace “had been all over the world,” said Heller.
The message on the necklace reads: War is not healthy for children and other living things.
“I’m wearing it until peace breaks out,” she said.
Heller worked for Paul Whalen, dean of Academic Affairs, for 15 years as well.
“I’ve been the most fortunate person with the bosses I’ve had, they’ve both been wonderful,” said Heller. “It was more than just a boss-secretary relationship; Pierce is very special that way.”
One of Heller’s favorite memories during her career at Pierce was an annual event that she started with another retiree including a panel of women who had a relationship to Pierce.
The events began years ago during Women’s History Month. One of the first panelists that participated was Heller’s mother, 90-years-old at the time, who spoke about how it was when she was growing up.
“She just jumped right in, told about her upbringing: one of eight children,” said Heller. “She was the start of the show; she was a pro.”
According to Heller, they put on the event for several years, with faculty and guest speakers participating regularly.
“You can’t imagine until you talk to people what kind of background they had,” said Heller.
Heller’s involvement with the campus and the faculty, aside from simply her work commitments, did not stop there.
Heller also participated in a musical with the Director of the San Fernando Valley Chorale and Orchestra, Terry Danne, with the Theatre Department here a few years ago.
When Heller first started, things were very different than they are now at Pierce.
The farm was in danger of being shut down, resulting in protests from a group called ‘The Friends of the Farm,’ according to Heller.
Rocky Young was President and he won the people’s confidence. Young was able to convince the group that the farm was facing no real danger of closing.
There was also talk of the farm being turned into a golf course at one point, but that didn’t happen either, according to Heller.
“We’re all working for the same end,” said Heller. “You can’t draw lines and say my job ends here.”
Heller hopes that she’ll be remembered for trying to make a contribution to Pierce.
Mary Harte, accounting assistant in the Bookstore, missed her friend’s retirement party. Heller and Harte have known each other for 17 years.
“One of the things that was most outstanding about her was her stand for justice,” said Harte. “Whether it was here at school or for our country, she always stood for what was right, whether it was popular or not.”
Harte made sure to write to Heller, regretful of missing her goodbye celebration on campus.
“[I loved] that she always had a smile and was so gracious,” said Harte.
When Heller went to school, students weren’t as bold as they are now, according to Heller.
“I didn’t even know where the dean’s office was. Students [today] are a totally different category,” Heller said with a laugh. “When they come in here, they usually have a problem.”
But it never bothered her. She does her best to diffuse the anger.
Up until she retired, her routine was maintaining information through a paper trail and filing methods. She felt an obligation to sort out her desk before she left.
Heller was old-fashioned and didn’t care much for the Internet.
“I’m still a newspaper bug,” said Heller. “I want to sit down on my couch with a cup of coffee and go through the paper one by one.”
When History professors visit her in the office, she liked to ask them questions and pick their brains. She found joy in that.
Having worked for a college, she would never want to work anywhere else.
“I’ve loved every minute of working at Pierce,” said Heller. “Some of my friends on the outside say Pierce is elitist, the faculty, but I don’t buy it.”
Heller plans to sell her home once she cleans it up and then move to New York to be with her two children there. Her third child lives in Florida, but she doesn’t care much for Florida.
“People have said that Pierce is a family, and it may sound a little corny, but there’s a great deal of truth to that; we really have rallied when needed,” said Heller. “They do say Pierce is special that way, and I’ve always been grateful for that.”
