Finance and human resources officer Marie began work as a young housing professional at Elderpark in 1980.

Now after 42 years and six months to be exact Marie has chosen to retire at the end of June after a long and rewarding career in housing.

For Marie her working life has been spent not far from where she grew up in neighbouring Drumoyne.

Her interest in housing began when she worked on a nine-month-long Manpower Services Commission engagement at Govan Housing Association.

Marie said of her time at Elderpark: “While here I applied for two other jobs with different housing providers but although I was offered both positions I felt, on reflection, it was right to remain at Elderpark.

“I’m very proud of my length of service and Elderpark is a great place to work. I’m glad I chose a career in housing because one of the guiding lights of the movement is that we are here not just to deliver good housing but help communities, too. That is a concept which appeals to be very much.

“Having said that, I’m very much looking forward to my retirement. I would like to thank Elderpark for being a fabulous employer and a great support to me and my family. And to all my colleagues that I have worked with over this period (of which there have been many) I’d say it has been a pleasure and a privilege working with you all. The fabulous memories we have shared along the way will stay with me forever.”

Gary Dalziel, chief executive of Elderpark, praised Marie for her commitment to housing and in particular to Elderpark.

He said: “It’s fantastic that Marie has spent 42 and-a-half years with Elderpark Housing. I think it says a lot about her passion, loyalty and commitment to the association that she has been here throughout the 80s, 90s 00s 10s and now 20s and throughout that time Marie has been one of the pillars of the organisation.

“Elderpark Housing has been around for 46 years, Marie has been here for 42 of those years and is the longest serving employee and, in all likelihood, for the rest of our history will remain the longest serving employee we will ever have.

“A career is made up of lots of positive experiences and occasional challenging times and, like life, what you hope is that the memories you create heavily outweigh the negatives. From talking to Marie she has certainly enjoyed many more positive experiences, possibly hence the reason she has been somewhat unique in spending almost her whole career with one organisation.

“I said to Marie that you can’t really sum up 42 years of someone’s career in a few sentences but what I would say is that everyone in the organisation, both past and present, is grateful for her outstanding contribution to Elderpark over these last five decades and wish her a happy retirement.”