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DA’s Assistant to Retire After
30 Years
By Jennifer Osborn
Courtesy The Ellsworth American
ELLSWORTH — Rosemary
Campbell, who has managed to manage District Attorney
Michael Povich and his office for 30 years, will retire
in June.
“It’s been a good run,”
Campbell said. “I have thoroughly enjoyed my job. I’m
ready to give up the responsibility — I really am.”
“I’ve loved being a
legal secretary,” she said. “I think I love the criminal
side of the law, too.”
After
three decades as an assistant to District
Attorney Michael Povich, Rosemary Campbell
will officially retire on June 1, and she
says she’s hoping to do something
“completely different.”— STAFF PHOTO BY
JENNIFER OSBORN |
This is fitting because
half of her job has entailed coordinating Hancock County
Superior Court cases, subpoenaing witnesses and making
sure officers know their trial dates as well as helping
the prosecutors.
The other half of the
job is spent managing the office, paying bills, tracking
the budget, maintaining records and disbursement of
restitution to victims and coordinating the extradition
of prisoners.
Before Povich
instituted the position of victim witness advocates in
his office, Campbell kept victims informed of their
cases and court dates.
When Campbell started
working for Povich in May 1977, there were five people
employed in the office counting the district attorney.
Now there are 12.
“So you can imagine how
this job has evolved,” she said.
Campbell is Sheriff
Bill Clark’s older sister, which she kept to herself
when applying for the job.
“I wanted to come in on
my own,” she said. “At that time, Billy was working as a
detective for the Ellsworth PD.”
But, Povich figured out
who she was by asking Campbell her maiden name during
the interview — a big no-no. Campbell still laughs about
it.
“It’s amazing that
people still say I just found out you and the sheriff
are brother and sister,” she said. “I hardly see Billy.
I have more interaction with the officers than Billy.”
Before interviewing at
the DA’s office, Campbell had spent two years working
for Hale & Hamlin.
She listed the late
Atherton Fuller as a reference. Fuller reportedly told
Povich that Campbell was a good candidate but not to
hire her because she wouldn’t stay more than two years.
In the beginning,
Campbell was amazed at the crimes she heard.
She recalls frequently
saying, “‘He did that? You’re kidding!’”
She has since lost her
innocence.
“I’m sorry I’ve lost
that,” Campbell said. “The good part is when you put
somebody away that really deserves it.”
Campbell is leaving
because she said she is ready for a change.
“I want to do something
else while I’m healthy and my mind is fairly good,” she
said. “I’d like to do something completely different.”
Campbell is excited
about the possibilities. She said she recently realized
she would have time for volunteer work.
“I’ve worked so much in
my life, that was a new concept,” she said.
“One of the greatest
joys in my life is my church,” she said. Campbell
belongs to Emmanuel Baptist Church.
And of course, she
anticipates spending more time with her five
grandchildren, the progeny of her two sons, Shane, who
is a deputy sheriff, and Nate, who resides in Orono.
Campbell leaves her
full-time job June 1. But she’ll be around part time for
a while to train her replacement and to sweep knowledge
from the recesses of her memory.
“After you’ve been here
30 years you forget what you know,” she said.
Campbell says her
departure will be a good chance to get the job updated.
Perhaps someone younger with greater computer literacy
will be hired, she said.
Povich said he and
Campbell have grown gray together.
“It seems like
yesterday that I gave her a typing test that was state
of the art back in those days,” Povich said. “She’s been
a great administrative assistant and a great friend.
It’s going to be a change of an era.”
People often ask
Campbell how she can work for Povich.
“Michael is not bad to
work for because he has more good points than bad
points,” she said. “I like Mike’s integrity. I like
Michael’s sense of fairness. Michael is a true public
servant.”
“Michael knows more
secrets than you and I will ever know,” she said.
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