Comm. honors civilian for decades of service

  • Published
  • By 2nd Lt. Andre Bowser
  • 439th AW/PA
WESTOVER AIR RESERVE BASE, Mass. --  After nearly 60 years of civilian service, Helen Lemiech retired from her latest post on base with the 439th Communications Squadron.

Surrounded by friends and co-workers during a surprise get together in late December, Lemiech enjoyed a cake in her honor and received a clock with the following inscription: "Congratulations on your retirement (Feb 1952 - Dec 2011)."

Lemiech said when she joined the Westover team in the mid-20th century there were more than 10,000 people here.

"Westover was a metropolis and things were booming in those days," she said. At the time of her arrival, Westover was a Military Air Transport Service base.

The base opened in the fall of 1940 and was a major hub for the 1948 Berlin Airlift. Westover grew even more in 1955, when Strategic Air Command took over operations. Westover partially closed in 1974 with the departure of SAC. The Air Force Reserve took ownership of the remainder of the base that same year.

Lemiech said in her retirement she would care for her one surviving family member, her brother, Walter Lemiech.