A life of service: Moss marks 50 years

Sharon Moss marked 50 years of service with the VA in September 2025. Submitted

Across the decades, from her late teenage years to her approaching retirement, Sharon Moss has spent her entire adult life serving Veterans at the John J. Pershing VA Medical Center, and on September 24, she marked a significant milestone: 50 years of federal service.

“It feels like time has flown by, like I haven’t been here 50 years,” said Moss, the facility’s kitchen supervisor, as she reflected on her five decades of service and impending retirement.

“I started in 1975, when I was about 17 years old,” Moss recalled of her first days on the job. “I was still going through high school. At first it was a summer program, then it was after school.”

Known for her cool demeanor and firm, yet loving supervisory style, as well as her fairness toward others, Moss can always be found doing whatever is necessary to keep her kitchen running in peak form. It’s something her team says sets her apart.

“She’s not too good to go in the dish room when we’re short-handed. That’s probably the lowest duty we’ve got, and she’s a supervisor who spends a lot of time in there,” explained Teresa Lewis, who’s worked for Moss for the last 13 years. “She mops every morning and never says, ‘Oh, I’m too good for that’ or ‘I’m a supervisor, that’s not my job.’”

For Moss, such tasks are all in a day’s work. “I’m a hands-on supervisor, and don’t like to sit at my desk,” she said. “People will see me sometimes and say, ‘I didn’t know you were a supervisor’ because I might be up on the floor delivering trays or I may be mopping the floors, and I have no problem with that because when we’re short-staffed, I’ll get my hands dirty, right along with the rest of them. I’ve been there and done that, so none of it phases me at all.”

Her staff loves her, saying she doesn’t play favorites and treats everyone respectfully.

“She’s very fair, and she doesn’t get mad. She’s a very good supervisor who’s very caring and very good at her job,” said Robbin Miller, who’s worked with Moss for 25 years.

“I try to be fair, and I don’t down-talk anyone,” explained Moss. “If we’ve got a problem, I’ll pull them in here and they know I get to the point. I don’t beat around the bush, and I’m going to tell you like it is.”

Team member Pam Tyler said Moss “never loses her cool. I always ask her how she did it for 50 years, and she says, ‘You let it go and you don’t take it home.’ I don’t have the cool that she’s got.”

Veterans Canteen Service Chief Lora Ashcraft agreed, saying the staff “looks up to Moss because, even in times of uncertainty, she doesn’t seem to be phased. She is a sense of calm for them, but she also has that aura about her where you know she means business, like a mom … she’s been kind of the mom of the family down here, very loving to everybody.”

Without doubt, one thing Moss is known for is being particular about how things are done in the kitchen.

“She runs a tight ship and keeps things clean,” said Lewis, while Joanne Miller, who previously worked with Moss, said she “puts a lot of pride into her work. She always puts the Veterans first.”

“I take a lot of pride in what I do, and I like to make sure everything is neat and clean,” said Moss. “I’m kind of particular, like when I’m checking trays on the serving line … I like everything in a certain place. I want these trays to look as if I were a patient.

“If someone were to bring me a tray upstairs and it looked tacky, I wouldn’t eat it. So, I want their tray to look like it was mine. I want everything neat, and they all know it.”

Over the years, Moss said, she’s seen a lot of changes at the facility, from the closure of the former operating room, psych ward, and ICU unit to staff turnover. “I’ve seen a lot of people come and go … directors and employees,” she said.

Still, the role of kitchen staff has remained largely unchanged. Everything we do now, we did then,” Moss noted.

Now, as she celebrates 50 years of service to the Veterans, facility, and coworkers she loves, Moss also has something else looming to think about: retirement. Her final day on the job will be Nov. 28, and admittedly, it’s something she never really thought about.

“One night at home, I had a strange feeling come over me, and it said, ‘Sharon, I think it’s time for you to retire.’ I just shook it off and didn’t think anything about it, but a week or two later, I got that feeling again. That’s when I decided I want to enjoy it while I still can.”

Her plan for retirement, she said, is to travel with her husband and see new sights.

“In a way, I’m ready, but I’m not ready because I’m going to miss everybody around here. I’ve grown a bond with them, and I’ve been with some of them for a long time,” she said.

“I’m really going to miss her,” said Lewis, a thought echoed by Ashcraft. “We’ll continue to work as a team, but there will always be a big gap there. We’ll feel it in our hearts, but hopefully not in our work,” she said.

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