After more than four decades of keeping Penner Home Hardware running smoothly, Marlene Penner has decided it’s finally time to log off.
At 81, the longtime staff member officially retired last week after 43 years of full-time work and many more helping out part-time at Niagara-on-the-Lake’s well-known hardware store.
Her final day at the store was two weeks ago, but with a family wedding, Thanksgiving and a manager away on holiday, the owners waited until last Friday to celebrate at Penner’s — with lunch, cake and stories shared across generations.
It’s the close of a long chapter that started with a helping hand that turned into a lifetime of work.
“I was home for a while with the kids when they were little,” said Marlene. “I said, ‘OK, the kids are okay — what am I doing here?'”
She started off in the office “filing and whatever there was,” she said, and after a while, she got pretty good at it.
Every so often, her husband Harry would tell her to take a break — “OK, that’s it. I’m sick of pizza, go home,” he’d say — and she’d stay home for a while before returning to help again.
What began as part-time help in her husband’s family hardware store turned into a steady job and eventually responsibility for payroll.
“Payroll was on Monday, so I got what had to be done and then the next day or so I’d finish it off,” she said. “I was happy with my system that I had — it was a standalone type of computer system.”
When the store adopted a new digital payroll and direct-deposit system to replace the punch cards she’d relied on, Marlene realized it was time to hand things off.
“I’m too old to learn all that,” she said. “I do not want to learn a whole new system, not at my age.”
To keep doing payroll, she would have had to learn the new system — her cue, she said, to call it a day, after years of dedication to a place that will always be part of her family’s story.
The Penner legacy began in 1950, when Peter Penner opened an independent hardware store that later joined the Home Hardware chain.
His son, Harry, carried it on, and now Harry’s grandchildren, Kevin Penner and his wife, Marcia, lead the business, taking over in 2008.
A fourth generation is already preparing to take the reins. Marcia said her children “are gonna take it over when we’re ready.”
She said staff and customers will miss seeing Marlene around, but not to worry, “she’ll still be shopping at her favourite store, Penner’s.”
“She’s super fun,” Marcia said. “Loves everybody, cares for everybody.”
“Loved to share sweet treats,” she added — “she would call it quality control and go and share with everybody.”
Ask anyone at the store and they’ll say the same: cashier Tracey Brown said Marlene was “friendly and would do anything for anybody.”
“She absolutely wears her heart on her sleeve,” she added.
Looking back, Marlene said it’s been a family and community affair from the start.
She said she and Harry can’t go far without someone calling out, “Mr. Penner, how are you?” — a small-town reminder of the loyal customers and longtime staff who’ve stood by them through everything, even the pandemic, when the store remained busy.
“We feel good,” she said.
Now, she’s ready for rest — time to read, relax and tend to things at home.
But she’ll be watching with pride as the next generations carry the Penner name forward.
“I’m hoping it’s going to keep going and going,” said Marlene.
