A great lady, state's attorney's staff member Trixie Malick to retire from courthouse Friday
Sharon Malick says her parents' hope that she would be born on Christmas Day got a little "tricky"as the day wore on. That's where the name Trixie comes from.
She actually came a day late--on December 26--and it's the only day she's missed in an admittedly high-stylin' life well -lived.
Trixie retires on Friday from a 19-year job she loves and has been good at as State's Attorney David Stanton's Girl Friday. She takes care of a great deal of the logistics for traffic court, looks up driving abstracts, assists with preparing notices and orders and feels blessed by the three "great bosses" she has had--Du Quoin school superintendent Jacob Whitecotton, who saw here talents as a classroom teaching aide and State's Attorneys David Stanton and Kurt Harris.
She has worked for Stanton for 15 years and for Harris during a four-year break in Stanton's service to the county. She calls both of them "the greatest men I have ever met."
"God dealt me three people of integrity and kindness," she said.
She follows husband Jim into retirement, feeling blessed by the opportunities and galvanized by the challenges in her life. Trixie and husband Jim have a son, Matt, who is the chief engineer for the City of Clayton, Mo. Matt and his equally gifted wife Deborah have two children, Anna and Elle.
Trixie says between her husband's retirement, her IMRF and social security their life ahead will work out.
Back to the challenges. At the age 22, Trixie--a beautiful girl with an unbridled love of life--was stricken by the Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS), a disorder in which the body's immune system attacks part of the peripheral nervous system. In a matter of weeks Trixie went from degrees of weakness and tingling sensations in her legs to near paralysis. Her two months in the hospital included the placement of a trach tube in her throat to help her breathe.
"My mom and dad were there every day," she remembers.
The scar of that surgery is long gone and an admitted life-long weakness in one corner of her mouth pales by her keyboard smile and love of life. It was an arduous time in her life, but her faith was strong and she was intrepid through her rehabilitation.
She remembers Dr. Whitecotton asking her to go from a parttime aide in her son's third grade classroom to a fulltime aide. He had that much confidence in her ability to help children learn. Her collegiate career was in communications.
When next door neighbor and longtime family friend Bob Karnes won a seat on the Perry County Board of Commissioners they talked about an opening in the state's attorney's office. "I can get you the interview, but I can't get you the job," she remembers Karnes telling her. "You'll have to do that yourself."
"David Stanton hired me the same day," she said and she remembers it being one of the happiest Kodak Moments in her life. Somebody put their trust and confidence in her and that meant the world.
She said for 19 years the office has been a legal classroom for her. "I am still learning things," she said. "I got to give jurors their instructions the other day. That's something I've never done."
"All of us learn something new every day. Every now and then we have to look something up."
It's the people she loves--hard-working and professional--who want the court system in Perry County to operate fairly and efficiently. And, it does.
Trixie loves clothes and jewelry and has been the Perry County Courthouse's fashion statement for all these years.
But, behind the fabric and the bling is a woman who does her job well with a huge sense of courthouse propriety and an unconditional love of family.
In her mind there has been a countdown calendar to retirement while embracing the memories of her work and the people who made it such an unforgettable experience.