ST. JOHN | Current and former teachers, administrators and staff joined community leaders and school board members Friday to bid farewell to longtime Lake Central School Corp. Superintendent Janet Emerick.

It was a small, simple gathering in the Clark Middle School cafetorium, just as Emerick wanted.

She retires at the end of the month after 14 years leading the school corporation as superintendent and 28 years in the corporation altogether.

Her colleagues said Emerick was a fair leader who focused on the students.

She was goal-oriented but always remembered that her decisions affected real people, which demonstrated her humanity, said Penny Tokoly, Lake Central High English department chairwoman.

"To lead with a soft touch, it is a gift," Tokoly said.

Students and parents come in all varieties, and Emerick had a gift for working with them all, Tokoly said.

Jan Babinski, Emerick's secretary the last three years, said Emerick was always diplomatic. She treated everyone with the same respect she would give her own family, Babinski said.

"It has been an honor," she said. "I've learned so much from her. She's such an amazing person."

As part of her going-away gift, employees had a quilt made of T-shirts from all of the schools in the corporation, said financial assistant Barb Broz.

Broz, who has worked in the administration center the last 10 years, said she'll miss chatting with Emerick by the coffee pot in the mornings.

Broz said Emerick genuinely cares about people and had a knack for staying calm when things got hectic.

"She's going to be missed," Broz said. "She did a lot of good things for the corporation."

Among the attendees at her farewell party were St. John Police Chief Fred Frego, Schererville Police Chief David Dowling and St. John Town Manager Steve Kil.

Kil said the town always had a good working relationship with Emerick and the school corporation, and he wanted to wish her well.

Emerick will retire to South Carolina. She'll take it easy for the most part and play some golf, but she might teach part time at nearby University of South Carolina-Aiken, she said.