DPW’s Prata bid a fond farewell

There was an outpouring of love – and some sadness, too – inside the Johnston Department of Public Works building beginning at noon last Friday.

And that’s because the close-knit department, which is directed by Arnold “Arnie” Vecchione, was bidding farewell to a highly valued employee.

“This is a big, big loss for the town of Johnston,” Mayor Joseph Polisena said before presenting Terry Prata with a special plaque and official citation. “We’re losing a very valued employee and a lady who is just a beautiful, beautiful person.”

While Polisena’s statement spoke volumes, so did the number of town officials – and Prata’s co-workers at the DPW – who turned out for a luncheon during which each and every attendee met her new boss.

Boss?

Although Prata will retire from her daily DPW duties, she’s not going to sit in a rocking chair and knit or do puzzles.

“I’m going to have a full-time job that will be lots of fun,” Prata said. “This is Nico – my grandson – and he’s going to keep me very busy, and I’ll love every minute of it.”

Nico Santos, the grandson of Terry and Lou Prata, is just seven months old, but he was the star of last Friday’s farewell party for his grandmother.

“I love my little guy,” Prata said. “He’s going to have lots of fun with his grandmother, and grandfather, too.”

While Prata was a popular figure in the DPW for the last 25 years, her husband Lou – of Johnston Parks and Recreation Department fame – has also been around the town’s public landscape for equally as long or longer.

“They’re great people,” Polisena said of the Pratas. “Personally, I will hate to see Terry leave. She has given this town a quarter-century of special service. Johnston’s loss is for sure Nico’s gain.”

Terry Prata worked as a clerk, handling clerical tasks, billing for fleet maintenance and matters dealing with the recycling program. She was highly respected by everyone who came into the DPW, as well as her co-workers – namely Holli Stott, Tami Ricci and Sue Leonardi.

Vecchione called Prata a “kind and caring person who served this department and the town above and beyond the call of duty.”

“If someone came in for recycling, the first person they saw was Terry. And she was the kind of person that made people feel at ease and easy to talk to, as well,” he said.

That became more and more obvious as the luncheon portion of last Friday’s special sendoff went on.