The seat of legislative administrator will be empty when the Hamilton County Commission convenes its next full meeting on Sept. 7.
Lila Mack, who began working more than two decades ago for the county school system, attended her last full commission meeting Wednesday and soon will be retiring to Arizona to be closer to her grandchildren.
“I’ve seen a lot happen,” Mack said of her long tenure with the county.
She left the school system to serve as the right hand to former Sheriff John Cupp and later became the commission’s legislative administrator.
Mack weathered more than 10 years in the sheriff’s office before joining the commission, rising to legislative administrator.
“She’s the anchor of the office,” said Commissioner Tim Boyd, who praised the way Mack manages commissioner schedules and communicates with citizens.
Commission Chairman Larry Henry said Mack will be missed.
Mack began as a bookkeeper at Apison Elementary School and was working at Mountain Oaks Elementary School when Cupp brought her over in the mid-1990s to become his executive assistant.
“She was extremely efficient and was able to anticipate the needs as they developed,” Cupp said Wednesday. “She related well with everybody and she was just an outstanding secretary.”
Mack, who graduated from South Pittsburg High School in Marion County, moved to Hamilton County in the early 1970s. She and her husband raised their two adult sons in Ooltewah. One of her sons, Brian, 36, lives in Tucson and has three children. Her other son, Mark, lives in Middle Tennessee.
She will be closing on her home in Hamilton County on Sept. 1, her last day at the county.
“It just kind of all fell into place,” she said. “We’ll no longer have a roof over our heads and our furniture will be gone, so we might as well go.”
Mack will serve commissioners through a final agenda session.