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BY IVAN SANDERS

CITY OF ELIZABETHTON PIO

When Freda Wagner retired as the administrative assistant in the City of Elizabethton’s Building and Planning Department, everyone wondered how she would be replaced as Wagner brought a ray of sunshine when it came to dealing with contractors and those seeking assistance in the department.

However, the search was fruitful for her replacement as Martha Parlier has stepped into the same role and hasn’t missed a beat picking up where Wagner left off.

Parlier was born in Tallahassee, Florida where her father worked as a geologist for the State of Florida on the Florida State University campus. When her father retired, the family decided to move back to the area where her father had kin from the Stoney Creek area and her mother also had relatives from the Hampton area.

After settling back into the area, Parlier attended Harold McCormick Elementary, T.A. Dugger Jr. High, and then Elizabethton High School, where she played clarinet in the band, gaining first chair her senior year.

Parlier graduated from EHS and went on to college at East Tennessee State University, where she earned a degree in Psychology, which she admits she hasn’t used on anyone other than the people she knows and loves.

After getting married, Parlier moved to North Carolina. Following a divorce after more than 20 years of marriage, the couple had two sons: 19-year-old Creston and 17-year-old Mack, a senior at Avery County High School this year.

She had worked at Avery County High School as a database manager for 10 years prior to the divorce and decided to take off a year to do nothing more than to work on herself.

Finally, the time came when she knew it was time for her to re-enter the workforce.

“I finally got the feeling that I was ready to go back to work,” Parlier said. “I had been praying about it and one day it hit me, “Martha let’s get you back in work,”. I opened my phone and the first thing on Facebook was this position posting. I saw it and I went, “That’s it!” so I applied and got the interview and here I am. It worked out really well.”

Parlier has enjoyed working in the department since July 22 and finds the people to be enjoyable to work with.

“I like being around people and talking to people and helping them,” said Parlier. “I am finding that you deal with all kinds of people in this position and learn all kinds of things about building and codes, streets, and areas that I didn’t know anything about before. I like to be nice to people – I’m generally not a grumpy person which goes a long way with dealing with people.”

She said that her co-workers have treated her like a little sister and have been very helpful.

“They don’t get aggravated or mad at me when I ask questions so it’s been very good,” Parlier said. “It’s like a little family in here.”

In her spare time, Parlier enjoys crocheting and acrylic painting while also enjoying reading and kayaking – something that she hasn’t gotten to enjoy yet this year.

She also enjoys her cat, Tom, that was her son’s, but after the cat got sick, she nursed it back to health and made Tom hers.