Mary Larsen, an integral part of St Paul’s Collegiate School staff, is leaving after working here for well over half of the life of the 66-year-old school.

Mary began her journey with St Paul’s Collegiate School in 1988, joining the laundry team after years of knitting at home while raising her three boys. What started as a part-time job soon became a lifelong career with Mary stepping into the supervisor role, where she led the laundry team with calmness and good humour for the past 29 years. In total, Mary has provided 37 years of service to St Paul’s, keeping the school community looking sharp. 

Mary insists that her workmates, now her friends, are the reason she has enjoyed her time at St Paul’s so much. When Mary turned 65, she reduced her workdays to four days a week and thought she might retire in a couple of years. Eleven years later, she is following through with her retirement plans. 

Although Mary has many great memories from her time at St Paul’s, the most unforgettable one was her 70th birthday. Mary says, “My workmates and lots of other school staff came to the laundry and made me feel very special.”

Mary was also a key part of the sewing team during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the school was closed due to lockdown. Mary was asked to help sew protective face masks for the students and staff to wear upon their return to school. Mary and a team of school cutters and sewers created more than 1,500 masks. “I really enjoyed being able to help; this made me feel useful,” said Mary.

When asked about challenges during her time in the St Paul’s laundry, Mary answers, “I don’t think there have really been any challenges, if anything, my job has kept me fit all of these years, and I’m grateful for that.” That said, she does vividly remember the day a rat turned up among the Tihoi sheets. “At first, we thought it was asleep, but it was barely alive. After the other girls stopped screaming, we all breathed a sigh of relief and thanked our lucky stars that the rat hadn’t been found earlier when it was still alive.”

Given the physicality of the work involved in laundry (heavy lifting and spending long periods on your feet), and the extreme temperatures (especially during the summer months before more modern equipment was installed), St Paul’s has been fortunate to have someone like Mary Larsen on the team. She has approached everything with calmness, thereby providing a crucial service to our school community.

Mary is looking forward to spending her retirement with her husband of 56 years, her three children and their families (six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren). We wish Mary all the best for her retirement, which she has richly earned.