An Ipswich pharmacy dispenser is ready for "new adventures" after working at a long running pharmacy for nearly five decades.
Diane Greenway started her career at the age of 17 as a medicine counter assistant but soon progressed to being a dispenser at the pharmacy run by J.R.Barbour on Bramford Road.
Ms Greenway then moved to work at Rushmere Pharmacy in 1985, where she provided pharmaceutical advice, dispensed medicines and helped the pharmacy grow into the well-established and respected pharmacy that it is today.
The 65-year-old from Ipswich said: “Working in the pharmacy has been my life.
“There's been some very happy years and some sad years, and of course, there's been a lot of changes in pharmacy over the years.
“It’s not the same as it was. Now everything is computerised and all electronic, whereas in the old days it was all pouring things out from big bottles, counting out and writing handwriting labels.”
Ms Greenway has worked with all three generations of the Barbour family who run J R Barbour Pharmacies Ltd during her career.
This includes founder and superintendent pharmacist John Barbour; his eldest daughter Jennifer Smith who was the regular pharmacist until she passed away in 2010; John's son Mike, pharmacist and current operations manager, and grandson Dominic, who supports the business during the school holidays.
Her colleagues said that Diane is “a highly experienced and dedicated member of the team at Rushmere Pharmacy”.
The Barbour family said: “She has provided the community with an exceptional commitment to their care, ensuring she did all she could to help with their medicines.
“She will be greatly missed by our patients, the Rushmere Pharmacy team and the Barbour family as a whole, but we wish her a well-deserved and happy retirement.”
Ms Greenway will start her retirement by going on holiday next week.
She said that her plans for the future are to focus on her hobby of crocheting, take care of her garden, as well as spend time with her husband, who retired a few years ago.
The grandmother-of-two said she is very happy that she will now have more time for her two grandchildren, who are 14 and seven years old.
Ms Greenway added: “It will be nice to spend more time with my friends.
“They always invited me for coffee mornings, but I used to say – I can’t, I’m working.
“Now I can catch up with them and enjoy life a bit more.
“It’s time to explore new adventures.”
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