Lynne arrived in Kaitaia (from Whangarei) with her then husband, the late Constable Terry Malone, in 1977. In those days she was fully occupied as a wife and mother, but in 1987 she found the Sallies, then in the Plaza. It later moved into the old TAB premises, and finally to Commerce Street. And whatever pressures the work entailed, she loved every minute of it.
"I've never once woken up and thought 'Oh, I have to go to work.' It's been an absolute privilege to be here," she said.
"It's a lot busier than it was years ago, but I've been able to help a lot of people, and I could not have asked for more than that."
She has no plans to leave Kaitaia, and doesn't expect to have any great difficulty filling her days. Fishing, a cruise and visiting family in Australia will all be on her agenda, but Lt Mellsop hinted that she might get the odd phone call, in an emergency.
"I'm sure we will be on the phone," he said. "We need someone to carry the boxes up the stairs."
"I'll be going with a lot of sadness but with some wonderful memories. We've had a lot of fun," Lynne added.
Lt Mellsop said he and his wife Nikki had only been in Kaitaia for a little over two years but had come to value Lynne's contribution hugely.
"It's always been good to know she's here, and that there's never been any reason to worry," he said.
"She's been a God-send to us.
"She's the family store manager but so much more. She listens, she'll share a cup of tea with people when things aren't going well, she'll pray with people who are in need. She's a very relational person.
"We'll be sorry to see her go but we're happy that she will be able to spend some time on herself. All she ever does here is care for others and give, and I'm not sure she has had much left for herself.
"Very few people could do what she has done in the way she has done it," he added.
"Caring has always come first for Lynne, dare I say it sometimes to the detriment of the shop."
