A WOMAN who has served the public in a Port Glasgow chemist’s for more than half a century has retired.

Betty May McIlKenny wanted to leave quietly but her colleagues held a coffee morning in her honour and raised more than £500 for charity.

The 68-year-old has worked for David Wyse pharmacy in the town for 53 years and continued on when it was bought over by M&D Green.

She said: “I have mixed feelings about leaving.

“I enjoyed my job and the people I worked with and the customers.

“I started at 1964 at David Wyse in John Wood Street, I was there for 13 years then I moved to the shop in Fore Street.

“I’ve been a counter assistant, dispenser, and photography girl and I did the buying for all the bags, gifts and jewellery.

“I’ve seen a lot of changes over the years, especially the way dispensing is done.

“When I started you counted everything out or even made up the pills and ointments, now there’s a lot of computer work.”

Betty May, who lives in Newark House, had initially been a Saturday girl before joining the firm full-time when she left school at the age of 15.

She said: “I can remember the day I started as if it was yesterday.”

She chose Ardgowan Hospice as her chosen charity because it has supported so many Inverclyde families over the years.

Betty May, whose husband sadly passed away almost 30 years ago, said: “It is a local charity and at times in most people’s lives it is a service they would benefit from.”

She enjoyed a night out with colleagues who are personal friends at a tribute night at the Normandy Hotel in Renfrew and says she will keep in touch with them.

Plans for her retirement including spending more time with her 97-year-old father and pursing her hobbies of walking, gardening and shopping trips to Glasgow.

Shop manager Campbell Thomson said: “She was a very valued member of staff and had a great rapport with the local community.”