'They deserve to be treated like kings and queens...'
Patsy Butler retires from Clonmel Day Care Centre
“They deserve to be treated like kings and queens,” is how a much-loved person who provided an invaluable service for the elderly of the town described how the elderly should be respected.
Treating the elderly like royalty was the mindset of Patsy Butler, who recently retired, as she went into work every day at the Clonmel Day Care Centre for the last eighteen years.
Patsy Butler has retired from Clonmel Day Care Centre where she will be sorely missed by all who attended the centre in Irishtown.
“I loved everybody I met that came into the centre. They were all friends and I will miss them all greatly, I put my heart and soul into it as did all the staff.
“The people I met were amazing. I wanted to make it a home from home for them all. They all worked so hard all their lives, reared their families, they deserve to be treated like kings and queens,” said Patsy.
Not only will she miss the elderly but she will also miss the staff at the centre who she had great respect for.
“They were all fantastic people who enjoyed improving the quality of lives of others,” said Patsy.
Patsy, who lives in Kilnamac West outside Clonmel with her husband James, said she was looking forward to spending more time with her family.
Patsy and James, who is now retired after working as a Naval Radio Electronics Officer, have a family of three children - Lorna, Emma and James Junior and are proud grandparents to Noah, Finn and Roan.
“I am looking forward to spending plenty of time with the grandchildren and do things that I always found hard to find time for when I was working like meeting friends and going for a coffee and going for walks,” said Patsy.
“I never regretted moving away from the emergency services, the days were very stressful and long and the shift work was difficult,” said Patsy.
The people who attended Clonmel Day Care Centre over the years were fortunate that Patsy made that lifestyle decision. So many lives, including her own, were greatly enriched because of that decision.