WMU to honor Sopjes on Friday for 35 years of service

By Krystin Nichols
Western  Herald

A retirement reception honoring Diane Sopjes of Western Michigan University’s Dining Services will be held on Friday, Aug. 27.

The reception will be held in room 208 of the Bernhard Center from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. and is open to the public.

Sopjes has worked for WMU for the past 35 years. She started as a line person in the Burnhams dining hall when she was 18 years old. She then moved to a baker position and was involved in the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union as chief steward.

Eventually Sopjes moved to the Valley 1 dining hall as a baker and in 1989, she moved into management through a training program. She worked during the summer in other departments at WMU such as custodial, grounds and maintenance.

“I met my husband of 33 years while working on grounds,” Sopjes said. “He was a student worker at the time, but he is also a WMU maintenance supervisor and has worked here just a little longer than I have.”

Sopjes has two sons, and when asked what she will do after retirement, she said, “Anything I want.  Some friends have been trying to get me a job after this and it has all been fun, but I’d like to do what I want for a while.”

“I have watched hundreds of students I call my babies graduate and grow up through this university and a lot of them still keep in touch,” Sopjes said.

“I will miss so many of these people and I will always keep in touch with this place.  It was great and I enjoyed working here,” Sopjes said.

Short URL: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=19488

Posted by HeraldAdmin on Aug 27 2010. Filed under Breaking, Campus, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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