Annie Tate, a fixture at Eastern Plumas Health Care and in Portola, is retiring from the hospital after serving as a housekeeper for 46 years. Throughout her time at EPHC, Annie’s name became synonymous with loyalty, kindness, and selfless giving. Her spirit was contagious, and many people over the generations feel that they have not only been recipients of Annie’s generosity, but also that they’ve been made better people by her example.

In looking back through articles written in the Portola Reporter about Annie, it’s telling that when the Williams House Museum had a display for Women’s History Month in 2009, which included items going back to 1900, they chose two modern women to honor whom they felt exemplified giving to the community—and one of them was Annie Tate.

What stands out even more than the 46 years during which Annie served on the staff at Eastern Plumas Health Care and before that the Western Pacific Railroad Hospital, is the many years and hours she has spent volunteering her time, donating money, and making craft items to sell–all for the benefit of the hospital.

Behind all those hours is a philosophy of giving that seems to be as much a part of Annie’s life as breathing. She worked to see her three children through college, she volunteered tirelessly for the hospital’s auxiliary. She was always making a quilt, floral arrangement or other craft item, often engaging her grandchildren in her efforts. This wasn’t simply a plan to have more items to sell, and therefore more money to donate to the hospital, it was also to impart to yet another generation the importance of giving, of volunteering, and of caring.

When Auxiliary President, Maylou Smith, presented Annie with its Lifetime Membership Award in October 2,000, she said it was “in recognition of exemplary service and commitment to her community and its health care needs.” At the time, EPHC was adding a wing to the hospital, which would house the Skilled Nursing Facility. It included a new activity room, named “Annie’s Room,” where skilled nursing residents now come for crafts, music, games, and socializing.

In one of the numerous years when Annie was honored as EPHC’s Employee of the Year, Charles Guenther, Chief Executive Officer at the time, wrote the following to Annie in May 1999: “Your years of service to our hospital, our schools, our youth, and our community span more than three decades. You have given so much in every way and yet have never asked for anything in return.”

Annie was born in 1925 in Sparkman, Arkansas. She finished eighth grade, leaving school to take care of her siblings and work in the fields. Her husband to be, James, completed tenth grade. The South, especially in those days, was a very difficult place for Annie and James, as segregation was still in full swing.

The couple moved to California in 1950, and James took a job at the Sloat Lumber Mill. Five years later, the family moved to Portola, where they remained save for one year spent back in Arkansas. Annie began working for the Western Pacific Hospital in 1965, while putting her three children through school, seeing all of them receive college degrees. Finally, when she was over sixty, Annie herself returned to school, receiving her GED from Jim Beckwourth School in Portola, when her son, Willie Tate, was Principal there.

It’s been difficult for Annie to retire, when the hospital has been so much a part of her life. And, it’s hard for EPHC to see her go, because she’s been so much a part of the place since its beginnings. Of her work in the Skilled Nursing Facility, Annie once said, “I love working in this wing of the hospital and I love the people I help care for.”

She’ll be very much missed, and everyone at the hospital hopes she’ll return to visit Annie’s Room and continue creating quilts and other projects just like she has over the years. Chief Executive Officer, Tom Hayes, summed up EPHC’s feelings when he said, “Annie will be missed at EPHC, and she’ll be remembered as an ambassador of goodwill–a person whose life stands as an example to the rest of us. Congratulations, Annie. We look forward to seeing you back here soon.”