Local residents on Friday honored Jeanette Ness, who’s retiring from her job as the office assistant with the state’s public health nurse, a position she held for close to three decades. She also has served on the board of the Petersburg Indian Association, Petersburg Medical Center and was an original board member for the student-run Northern Nights Theater.

Friends and colleagues held a party for Ness on Friday and she also was honored to light the Christmas Tree downtown that evening. Joe Viechnicki talked with Ness about her decision to retire and how it was influenced by the loss of her husband John, Petersburg’s postmaster for many years.

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