Park University recently said goodbye to a longtime employee who has been dedicated to serving students for over 25 years.

A retirement party was held Feb. 3 for Katy Goodwin, who has worked as a special events coordinator for 25 years at Park University.

Goodwin started working in the summer of 1989 in the Student Life department. Her husband was already retired and their son was 13, so she wanted to pursue a part-time job.

“A lady at my church was working in this department,” Goodwin said.

However, with no part-time jobs available at the time, she was placed into a full-time position and the rest is history.

During her tenure at Park, Goodwin has seen many changes done to the university including the construction and renovations to Copley Quad and the underground facilities.

She has also seen many students and faculty come and go and has built strong connections with students through her job.

“It’s hard to say ‘bye’ when students graduate and I get attached to them,” Goodwin said. “I have learned a lot from them. They kept me young. One of the reasons I stayed here so long is the students.”

Another of the many things Goodwin said she will miss about being in her second floor office of Thompson Commons is the bell chiming from Mackay Hall.

As a special events coordinator, one of her jobs was to schedule wedding events that were to take place on campus.

“I was scheduling weddings,” Goodwin said, “sometimes two or three weddings a weekend in the Chapel. Rehearsals were on Thursdays and weddings were on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.”

The Student Life department and the university have changed in names over the time she was here but Goodwin recalled a significant event during her time at Park: The Flood of 1993. She said she remembers having to park on Sixth Street because of the severe flooding on Missouri Highway 9.

“The [Missouri] River came up,” she said. “Parkville was flooding all the way to the post office. We had to come on campus on the backside. In the morning you were wondering if you would be able to come on campus, it took a long time to clean up.”

There was a time during Goodwin’s work where Park University had horses on campus for riding lessons. She said they were kept next to the soccer field behind Chesnut Hall. She said she fondly remembered having picnics and watching the horses.

While Park no longer has horses or offers riding lessons, there are still many fun programs offered, the campus is larger and there are more students, especially international students.

While Goodwin’s last day at Park was the day of her retirement party, she said she will still visit campus – especially to watch athletics events.

“She never misses a volleyball game,” said Diana McElroy, dean of Student Life.

As for the future, Goodwin’s son just had twins and she said she is looking forward to traveling to New Orleans see them.

“It’s time to just relax and be with my family as much as we can,” Goodwin said.

Additionally, she said she will also have more time to spend with of her husband.

“I have to take care of me so I can take care of him,” she said. “It feels strange to be home.”