After 33 years behind the desk, receptionist Olive Keegan dials a new tone

Staff Writers

“I love my job,” Telephone Receptionist Olive Keegan said. “I love working with the phones and speaking to people, and greeting people. Keegan, who works outside the deans’ suite, has answered the main phone line at the school for 33 years and will retire this year.

When Keegan first came to the school in 1985, she worked in the school kitchen. “It was a very exciting place,” she said. “The music and the laughter made my day,” But Keegan’s children, who were young at the time, needed her at home.

After taking time off to be with her children, Keegan returned to the school in 1991 to work in the office. Mary Boyle, who worked as a receptionist at the school, offered her an open job position. “I would be the second operator, and I said yes.”

Keegan’s new job in the office involved overseeing the phones. “I mastered the phones very well,” Keegan said. “It was no problem because I worked for the New York

Telephone Company when I first emigrated from Ireland when I was a teenager.”

In her new role, Keegan con tinued to appreciate the school’s welcoming and upbeat envi ronment. She enjoyed get ting to hear the students’ chatter and joy on a daily basis, she said.

“The laughter and the excitement is what makes the school, which is what makes me happy every day.”

Keegan’s friendli ness is contagious, Administrative Assistant for Data Management Laura Cassino said.

“She’s right there every morning in the front greeting everybody with a smile,” she said. “She’ll always buy me packs of gum because she knows I like to chew gum, and she’ll bring in bagels often for the office. She’s always there to offer any help with whatever you need.”

Many community members appreciate Keegan’s sunny disposition. “The thing I’m going to miss most is a friendly, smiling face to see every morning, whenever I walk by the Dean’s office,” Malcolm Furman (12) said.

Dean of Students Michael Dalo will also miss Keegan’s presence, he said.“I will most miss her smile, her sense of humor, and her happy attitude.”

Throughout all her years at the school, Keegan has noticed the many changes around the school. For instance, her office in Tillinghast was not always at the entrance of the school, but on the second floor by the library and the cafeteria was where Gross Theater is now. During renovations, Keegan also worked in middle school for a while. She moved to her current office 18 years ago.

After Keegan retires, she will spend more time with her six grandchildren and support her husband, who is sick. “But I’ll come back to visit at any time,” she said.