A retirement reception was held Thursday for Michael Pearson, manager of Marshall Northwest Pipe Fittings, and office staff member Cindy Jolstad. Both Pearson and Jolstad have seen a lot of change over their time with the business – Jolstad started working at Northwest Pipe Fittings in 1975, and Pearson in 1979.

MARSHALL — Cindy Jolstad and Michael Pearson said working at Marshall Northwest Pipe Fittings was like being part of a family. And with more than 40 years on the job, they’ve each had lots of time to build up those relationships with co-workers and customers.

“We’ve had customers we’ve known as long as we’ve been here,” said Pearson, president and manager of Marshall Northwest Pipe Fittings.

Now, both Pearson and Jolstad are moving into new chapters of their lives. A retirement reception was held for Pearson and Jolstad on Thursday.

“Between the two of us, we have almost 93 years of experience,” Pearson said. Jolstad has worked at Marshall Northwest Pipe Fittings since 1975, and Pearson since 1979.

Jolstad said she was still in high school when she started working for the plumbing supplier. She got a part-time position at Northwest Pipe Fittings through an Office Education Association program.

“I really liked the job, because I wanted to be a secretary,” Jolstad said. Early on, she did office tasks and even took some shorthand. “I know I did a lot of typing,” she said. Over time, she moved on to working in areas like inventory control, receiving, invoices and more.

Pearson started out working in the warehouse side of the business. He said he drove a truck making out-of-town deliveries for “a good 10 years,” before working in sales. In 2008, he became manager of Marshall Northwest Pipe Fittings.

The two have seen a lot of changes during their time with Northwest Pipe Fittings. New technologies had a big impact on how things worked in the office over the years, Pearson and Jolstad said. Early in her career, Jolstad would keep track of inventory at Northwest Pipe Fittings using a system of cards, they said.

“We finally got computerized in the 80s,” Pearson said.

“It changed a lot in just a little bit of time,” Jolstad said.

Marshall Northwest Pipe Fittings also went through a big move in the 1990s. Pearson said the business was originally located on Ontario Road, where KHC Construction is now. In 1996, Northwest moved into its current location along North U.S. Highway 59.

Another memorable event was a fire in the warehouse part of the building in 2010.

“I remember calling 911. That was scary,” Jolstad said.

Fortunately, while the fire did do some damage to the building, the Marshall Fire Department was on the scene within minutes, Pearson said. In one of his desk drawers, Pearson kept two sprinkler heads from sprinklers that activated during the fire. “It’s history,” he said – the sprinklers helped save the building.

Jolstad said she’s enjoyed both her job, and the people she’s gotten to know over the years.

“I get along with the people I work with. And it’s something different every day,” she said.

“It just represented stability and security, and it was an enjoyable job,” Pearson said of working at Marshall Northwest Pipe Fittings. Over the years, he’s gotten to know most of the plumbers in the area. Pearson said he’s also enjoyed hearing funny stories customers have shared.

Person said it’s been good working with the people at Northwest Pipe Fittings. Besides the employees at the Marshall location, they’ve also gotten to know the people at Northwest Pipe’s headquarters in Rapid City, S.D.

“They’re kind of like our extended family,” he said.

After retiring, Pearson said he and his wife Kathy are planning to take a trip to Hawaii, something that was on their “bucket list,” he said. He also hoped to have a chance to ride his motorcycle more often.

“I’m going to miss everybody. I enjoy what I do,” Jolstad said of retiring. At the same time, she said she’s looking forward to some new goals in retirement. Jolstad said she wants to start a home project, and do some traveling with her daughter.

“It’s going to be a change, but I think I’m going to enjoy it,” Jolstad said.