By Mary Drier (Contact / Staff Bio)
July 5, 2008 - 12:00 a.m. EST

CARO ‹ When Suzanne Profit was growing up in a mining town with dry gulches in the middle of Colorado, she didn’t know anything about drains.

Even though she was naive about drains, Sue picked up the lingo and dynamics of how drains work in Michigan quickly, said Tuscola County Drain Commissioner Sarah Pistro, noting Profit is a “valued employee.”

“She is like my right hand, and I rely on her a lot,” said Pistro. “We’ve worked together for so long and so well, it’s to the point where Sue knows what I’m thinking and finishes my sentences for me.

“Working without her won’t be easy. She is going to be missed.”

Profit started in the drain office in January 1993, and advanced to being Pistro’s deputy.

After working side by side for 15 years, Pistro refers to her deputy’s retirement as “like losing a family member... kind of like getting a friendly divorce.”

“Working with Sarah in the drain office has been the most enjoyable and fulfilling experience of my work career,” said Profit.

The years of working in the drain office have given Profit a different perspective on farming, assessing and a great appreciation of the importance of a clean drain.

Pistro remembers the 1996 flood that devastated the county, and when she and Sue were doing a walking tour inspecting the drains for flood damage.

“We were out walking along Winchel Drain checking out an erosion problem. Sue is a little taller, but when she stepped into a sinkhole in one of the drains they were walking through, she suddenly got a lot shorter. She found the erosion problem,” said Pistro. “Fortunately, I was able to pull Sue out, but not before she got thoroughly soaked. She was just paddling for all she was worth.

“We’ve gotten poison ivy while out doing inspections, and more. No two days are alike, and there’s never been a dull moment,” she added.

Trudging up and down ditches in all kinds of weather and conditions goes with working in the drain office.

Even though Profit worked in customer service before she moved from Colorado, she said she has never gotten used to the shock some landowners feel as they learn of their drain assessments.

“That’s one of the less satisfactory parts of the job,” she said.

One of the satisfying aspects of the job, according to Profit, is when a beaver dam is removed from a drain that caused back-flooding on people’s yards and fields.

“I’m looking forward to retirement and having time to do things that I enjoy,” said Profit. “I enjoy golfing and gardening. Maybe I’ll even get in a little flying time.”

Profit and her late husband, Jim, both enjoyed flying.

“He had a pilot’s license and took some flying lessons,” said Profit. “I don’t think I would get a license, but I’d like to have some air time again.”

Profit says she has no regrets about retiring.

“How could there be? I’ve paid my dues, so it’s time to sit back and relax,” she said.

When Profit first moved to Caro, she and Jim were in the midst of building a house with their own hands. When he passed away in 1997, leaving her on her own to finish the house herself, she did.

In 2001, she remarried. Profit and her husband, Butch, have a combined family of two daughters, one son and five granddaughters.

Profit’s last day of work was Friday.

Mary Drier is a staff writer for the Tuscola County Advertiser. She can be reached at drier@tcadvertiser.com.