Betty Simpson ready for retirement after 49 years in pharmacy

On Friday, March 22 Betty had her last official day with Hopes Pharmacy and celebrated by having dinner at the Blue Fox.

The retail manager said she was excited but also sad about the new phase in her life.  

"I'll miss all the girls and the customers who have made such a fuss over me," she said. 

"It's been nice and surreal, I've met so many good people in Lithgow, I'm happy but I've got a bit of sadness." 

Betty said she had a bucket list of things she wanted to do while in retirement. 

"It will be a chance to relax and do what I want," she said. 

Betty said she will be staying in Lithgow with her horses. 

"We can go and race them and go on holidays when they go, " she said. 

"We can't just pack up and leave them." 

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Betty said over her time in the industry she has seen a lot of changes. 

"Prescriptions used to be 50 cents and we would write in a ledger book," she said. 

"I've been through all the changes, it's been just wonderful." 

Betty said thinking about those times brought back a lot of memories and good times for her. 

"It was a lot of extra work, with handwriting because we had no computers or even type writers," she said. 

"We had to hand write labels, but then came in typing and it was not like anything we had before.

"So I've seen changes, a lot for the better." 

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