Kylie Jasper | Indiana Gazette
Patricia “Patty” Kois had no ambitions to work in newspaper publishing when former Indiana Gazette owner Lucy Donnelly first offered her a part-time job as a typesetter in 1974. Patty was 19 at the time and “just happy to have a job.” A few weeks earlier, she had earned an associate degree in specialized business administration from New Castle Business College.
It has been 50 years since her first day at work and she is still employed in the production department and has no plans to retire anytime soon.
The company celebrated her service with a surprise party on Thursday, August 15, where she was presented with an engraved watch and Indiana Mayor William B. Simmons officially declared August 27 as “Patricia Kois Day.” Afterwards, she and her husband, Rich Kois, enjoyed lunch at Benjamin’s with Indiana Gazette Publisher Brian Nalepa and other department heads.
Patty started working as a part-time typesetter at the Gazette when she was 19. Today she is a layout coordinator and graphic designer.
“I can’t say enough good things about Patty,” said Nalepa. “In my 30 years in the industry, I have never met anyone who has spent half a century with the same company. We are proud that she has reached this milestone and honored to celebrate this remarkable achievement.”
When Patty started out as a part-time typesetter, her main job was typing copy and then running it through a scanner that produced a kind of ticker tape. This tape was then sent to production and run through another machine that created a film. The film was then peeled off and laid out by typesetters to lay out the pages of the newspaper.
She was originally hired as an assistant in the production of a special supplement. After completing that project, she progressed in the role and six months into the job, she was offered a full-time position as a typesetter.
“I really loved typing,” she said of her early career. “I graduated from college at a speed of 80 words per minute.”
Indiana Mayor William B. Simmons welcomed Patty at her surprise party on August 15.
A successful career in publishing isn’t the only thing Patty took away from her time at the Indiana Gazette. She also met her lovely husband of 37 years, Rich, in the Gazette building where he worked part-time in the production department in the early ’80s. Although it sounds like a textbook office romance, Patty admitted that she couldn’t stand Rich when she met him.
“I mean, he just never stopped talking,” she said. “I didn’t like him.”
Eventually, Patty agreed to go on a date with him, and the two fell in love and married in 1987.
Patty witnessed firsthand the dramatic changes in the industry brought about by the influx of technology into the publishing process. When the Gazette began incorporating computers into its production process in the late 1900s, Patty was overwhelmed by how drastically it changed her job.
“She has seen so many changes in production systems and other changes in the newspaper industry,” said former Gazette owner and publisher Mike Donnelly, son of Lucy Donnelly. “We could always count on Patty to adapt to those changes with ease. I wish her many more happy years at the Gazette.”
A photo of Patty from the late 70’s when she worked as a typesetter in the production department.
Patty remembered the worries she had at that time.
“I remember when they first started training us to use computers, I was completely overwhelmed,” she said. “I wanted to learn everything and try everything to become a useful employee, but I was scared. I went home to my husband crying and told him I couldn’t do it and that I would never figure out how to use those computers. He told me to hang in there and keep going. I did.”
Today, Patty does her work as a layout coordinator and graphic designer entirely on the computer. In her day-to-day work, she designs the layout of the newspaper, drafts most of the classified ads, and formats the classifieds section of the newspaper.
“I love the challenge of designing the newspaper,” said Patty. “Every day is a big puzzle.”
Newspaper production is geared to tight daily deadlines – Patty’s job requires her to work two days before everyone else. She can’t imagine life any other way, even though she’ll be celebrating her 70th birthday on December 25th.
Brian Nalepa, editor of the Indiana Gazette, took Patty to her surprise party. She received an engraved watch and later enjoyed lunch at Benjamin’s.
“People always ask me, ‘Don’t you want to retire?'” she said. “I tell them, ‘No! This is what I know. Deadlines, work – this has been my life for 50 years.'”
According to Patty, she never wanted another job because of her colleagues and the family-like work environment.
“The people here, my colleagues – we really are like a big family,” she said. “We know what’s going on with each other, we look after each other. It’s always been that way.”
Patty’s colleague and long-time friend Sherri Bash said, “I know I couldn’t do my job without her. She helps me a lot with putting together my ads for the classifieds section. Sometimes she doesn’t like to see me come in because I’m late with an ad, but she always takes the time and gets it done for me. I don’t know how she does it, but she manages it.”
“She is absolutely dedicated to doing her best work every day here at the Gazette,” said Nalepa. “Her dedication to the team is appreciated and admired by all of her colleagues. There have been several times when I have had to call her after hours to change the layout of the paper because of breaking news, text changes or mechanical problems with the press. Patty never hesitates to take the call and is there right away.”
She advises young professionals never to be afraid to ask for help and to respect their elders.
Lead designer Gabrielle Coy works closely with Patty almost every day.
Patty met her husband Rich Kois in the early 1980s at the Indiana Gazette. She claims she didn’t like him at first. After agreeing to date him, they fell in love and later married in 1987.
“I have had the privilege of working with her for the past four years and learning from her many years of experience,” Coy said. “I grew up reading issues of the Gazette that she was instrumental in creating. Having experienced her work ethic and breadth of knowledge firsthand, it would be very difficult to find anyone who is more passionate and dedicated to the Gazette than Patty.”
“I’m so grateful for my time here,” said Patty. “I love my coworkers. And I’m not done yet! I’ll keep working as long as I can.”
Patty lives in Homer City with her husband and their two cats, Władek and Kasia. In her limited free time, she enjoys reading, taking walks, and traveling with her husband, a polka musician.
IN NUMBERS
NEWSPAPERS: 17,054 newspapers
DAYS: 13,013 working days
HOURS: 104,100 working hours
MONTHS: 600 months of work
WEEKS: 2,603 working weeks
