Faces of the Valley: Alyce Olszewski keeps busy for 72 years at Harrison tax agency

As long as Michael McKechnie is Harrison’s tax collector, Alyce Olszewski will be right by his side.

After all, she has worked for the McKechnie family for 72 years.

Olszewski started working for McKechnie’s father, John, in 1953. She was fresh out of high school, looking for a company that felt like family and a job doing what she loved — secretarial work.

Collecting taxes, writing reports and making checks are all part of her daily tasks. To her, the job isn’t necessarily exciting or challenging, nor has it changed since she started seven decades ago.

“We don’t do any computer stuff, it’s all by hand,” she said. “I don’t think Michael wants to make changes. We’re too old for things like that. I like it the way it is.”

Despite the mundane, she finds pride in working for the agency and McKechnie, who she has known since he was 6. This year, McKechnie will be 79, and Olszewski will be celebrating her 90th birthday.

Ever since McKechnie was hospitalized a couple of years ago for heart problems, Olszewski has stepped up to take care of the office alongside her co-worker, Clara Stone, 70, who has been her partner in crime for nearly 10 years.

“She’s my buddy. We get along good; we’re best friends,” Stone said of Olszewski.

The space is cozy, with a lobby strewn with decorations and homemade items for sale. In the corner is a table where customers can buy crocheted pieces she makes in her spare time, a testament for her need to stay busy.

“I have to keep moving, I can’t sit still,” Olszewski said. “My husband died eight years ago, and I have nothing else to do. I can’t sit at home and do nothing. I’m not that type; I have to be moving.”

And move she does — as her nephew, Dan Figlieno, can attest.

“She’s got a good work ethic, she never misses work at all,” he said. “Seventy years at that job, that’s amazing. My dad worked 44 years and he was the oldest man to retire, and I thought that was great. But she was there over 70 years.”

Outside of work, Figlieno said, Olszewski’s life is dedicated to her daughters, grandchildren and quite a few trips to bingo.

Her office and family, however, aren’t complete without her dog, Angel, who gives a warm welcome to every customer from behind a screen.

“She follows me everywhere. The only thing is she sleeps with me, but she steals my covers,” Olszewski joked.

Keeping busy is what Olszewski has always done, and she has no plans to stop working anytime soon.

“I don’t think I’ll retire. Not that I know of, not unless I have to,” she chuckled. “Clara isn’t going anywhere either, she’s not leaving me.”