CRESTVIEW — Following 31 years of continuous service at the combined Richbourg School/Northwood Elementary School campus, Gary Fryman has retired to pursue a life of fishing, relaxing with his family and marrying off his daughter.
The school honored Fryman with a surprise retirement party Jan. 30, his last work day, in the media center.
"We will miss our 'gentle giant' whose big shoes will be impossible to fill … literally," school officials stated in a news release.
"For Mr. Fryman, there has never been a job too big for his broad shoulders or a child too small for his helping hand," the release stated. "He knows every square inch of our sidewalks and broom closets, classroom floors and cafeteria walls.
"He has mopped, swept, repaired, replaced, carried and hauled his way into our school's history and forever into our hearts."
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Northwood Elementary announces long-time custodian's retirement