Bonnie Setzkorn began working at Newman as a typist in 1989. As she prepared to retire from the university in 2020, she was scanning and digitizing files, some of which she had typed.
Setzkorn has been a part of the registrar’s office for more than 30 years and retired in June 2020.
She began her career at Newman in a part-time role while raising two boys. She loved staying busy while her boys were in school and said she feels blessed that Newman provided her that opportunity.
“They took a chance on me,” said Setzkorn; it’s one that she is still thankful for.
In her first semester at Newman, she typed syllabi, exams, letters and whatever else faculty needed. In the summer of 1990, she moved positions and began typing for the registrar’s office.
Her typing skills were utilized by the registrar’s office for various tasks and gradually she began training to work on transfer evaluations. She has a knack for organizing things and said she enjoyed helping students get on the right track.
“When I started at Newman, I worked on a typewriter and we didn’t have computers in the office. In fact, I had never used a computer, that’s why I was called a typist,” she laughed.
When computers were introduced in the office, she took computer classes at work to be able to use the machines.
When Setzkorn turned 65, she semi-retired, working quarter-time at the university. Now that she’s fully retired, she said she’d be popping in the office every so often to help out as a volunteer.
Registrar Lori Gibbon said, “Even with retirement, she walked out the door saying she would be volunteering in our office as soon as we return to campus full-time. Bonnie is forever a part of the registrar’s office family.”
Setzkorn said her favorite part of her job was the people. “I just thanked God every morning that I got to go to work,” she said. “I was always happy and excited and our office had such good rapport and I looked forward to it. They truly were my work family.”
Gibbon was hired as Registrar after Shirley Reub retired in 2018 and it didn’t take her long to learn about Setzkorn’s work ethic and positive attitude.
“I will miss Bonnie’s sweet disposition,” she said. “She was always readily available to help with whatever project was deemed a priority and she faithfully continued to help transition the registrar’s office to electronic files.”
