For 37 years, Dennis Story has served the community as a case worker, supervisor, and then director of Montezuma County Social Services.

His wife, Sue, put in 37 years as a lab technician at the Cortez Sanitation District.

Now the couple will hang up their work clothes at the same time and retire.

“We’re not going anywhere – this is our home, our community,” said Dennis Story.

Social service workers are often unsung contributors, working behind the scenes to protect children, families and provide a safety net for the disadvantaged.

“I’ve dealt with a lot of tough cases, but there are success stories also,” Dennis Story said during a retirement party Thursday. “It will be nice to wake up and not have to think about all those problems.”

Dennis Story has kept an old box where donations used to be collected for the needy. Now it is more impersonal, dominated by computers, bureaucracy and court-cases.

“There is a lot less face-to-face interactions and less home visits, so that is sad,” he said. “The needs grow with population. In 1980, we had a staff of 12; now it is 40.”

Josiah Forkner will take over as social services director.

Sue Story recalled her first interview at the sanitation district in 1977.

“I walked in, told them about my lab credentials, and was hired on the spot,” she said. “It was a time when sanitation was becoming more regulated under the Clean Water Act, and I was just what they needed to keep up with environmental compliances.”

The sanitation district was so impressed with her work that it renamed headquarters in her honor.

Unbeknownst to Sue Story, sanitation staff had her unveil a new sign at a recent retirement party. To her obvious delight it reads: Welcome to the Sue Story Waste Water Treatment Facility.

“That is amazing, I appreciate you all so much,” Sue Story said.

jmimiaga@cortezjournal.com