Town Pump's Gierke retires after 35 years

After 35 years of service to Town Pump and the community, the now-former Deli Manager Nancy Gierke has retired.

Gierke most recently worked at Town Pump's Havre location. She had been with the company since the mid-1980s, having worked at multiple locations over that course of time.

"My husband and I leased in Conrad and Missoula and Superior before actually going to work for the company. I went to work in 1986. My husband was a part of my journey in this and I've seen the old buildings torn down and the new ones come up. When we moved to Havre in 1990, they said that that store was the Cadillac store in the state," Gierke said.

She said the Havre Town Pump location was originally a small A-frame building and that employees didn't work in the building itself, which she was grateful for because she said it was claustrophobic. 

Gierke said the location has undergone several changes since then and she has been glad to be a part of the company's growth over the years.

"It's amazing. I was working in the deli. Customers would ask me 'Do you have this or that?' And I wouldn't even know because it was so big. And I would have to find somebody to find out myself if we had this or that," Gierke said.

"It's been exciting to watch it. We've had our ups and downs as businesses do. COVID this last year was pretty darn scary. But, you know, we got through it and have seen some increase in business, which really kind of blows my mind because of the quarantines and all that. But, yeah, it's been exciting," she added.

Gierke said she stayed with the company for so long after meeting Town Pump's original owner, Tom Kenneally Sr. She cited his genuinely caring nature as the biggest factor.

"He was a real genuine person and would always shake the employees' hands and talk to each of them individually," she said. "You know, so I knew he cared about the people working for him. And that's mainly what has kept me there."

Gierke said since Kenneally died - he died of natural causes Aug. 16, 2013, at age 88 - that same caring nature extends to the rest of his family, the current owners.

"When I retired, I got several phone calls from our corporate office, including Jim Kenneally. They always asked about my husband, even though he no longer worked (for the company), he had been a manager for a while. So they were just a real carrying bunch of people to work for," Gierke said.

Bill McGladdery of the Town Pump Charitable Foundation called Gierke an "amazing woman." She was well known for being a part of the annual "Be A Friend in Deed, Help Those in Need" campaign to raise money for the Havre Food Bank.

Gierke said that had a special impact for her for the 10 years she was a story manager.

"And so I would hold the company implementer program when it came about, and how I had the pleasure, more than once of getting the check from the corporate office and presenting that to the bank," she said. "And what a good feeling that was, you know, to be able to help where it's needed."

Gierke also supported Special Olympics Montana every year through the sale of raffle tickets. Even though she is retired now, she still supports Special Olympics Montana by buying raffle tickets herself.

Gierke's final day on the job was May 6. She said her immediate plans include fishing, camping and helping her son with a project, but she is looking for more things to do.

"I'm going to miss my fellow employees and my customers. I already missed them. I think about them a lot. I'm going to have to find something else to keep me busy because I'm finding I'm not just a sit around type girl," she said.