Several people last week said one of the reasons Rose Ann Ortmeyer is a valued Lincoln University employee is because she "knows everything."
They said that right after surprising her with a luncheon celebration of her 40 years at LU.
"I was totally surprised," she said. "I thought I knew everything.
"Apparently not."
Ortmeyer is President Kevin Rome's executive assistant - and has worked in the LU President's Office since 1983, when John Chavis was serving as the interim president between James Frank and Thomas Miller Jenkins.
She's remained in that office through four full-time presidents' terms and three interims - and she and Rome are just starting their third year together since he came to Lincoln on June 1, 2013.
"I've been fortunate," Rome told more than 70 people who gathered for Thursday's surprise luncheon, then told Ortmeyer, "I hope you have many more (years) with me."
Rome also told the crowd, "I can say that Rose Ann has been one of the most - if not the most - supportive in my transition to the presidency at Lincoln."
Ortmeyer said she never expected to be at LU so long.
She started working for now-retired Professor Thomas D. Pawley in 1975.
"I came to Lincoln University for "a minute,'" she said. "And 40 years later, I still love it."
And why is that?
"The students," she answered. "The camaraderie.
"The Lincoln University family."
Curator Marvin Teer graduated from LU in 1985.
He told the luncheon crowd, "I just want to come from the perspective of a young kid who was a student here who knew Rose Ann as "Miss Rose Ann.'
"She looked after you and she was like a big sister to you."
Then, he told Ortmeyer, "Now, transition from that as, supposedly, a grown man, to serve on the (Curators) board and to serve my university - I mean, you have been my "big sister' for 30-plus years, and I love you with all my damn heart!"
Ortmeyer grew up as one of 12 children.
Older sister Joanie Kliethermes told Thursday's luncheon, "We are very proud of this girl. She has done more for our family than many of us could say. ... But Annie was there for all of us - and we love her dearly."
Besides family and co-workers, the crowd included several former curators who worked with Ortmeyer over the years.
Current Board President Don Cook, of St. Louis, said, "So much has been done and is being done on a daily basis by Rose Ann.
"My transition in working with the Board of Curators as a board member, and now as president of the board, has been made easier.
"I'll call, have a simple talk with Rose Ann, and the answers are there."
Rome told Ortmeyer, "There are so many students, faculty and staff who have benefited from you over the years.
"You've been a staple.
"You've been a God-send.
"You've been so much to Lincoln University."
Former President Carolyn Mahoney worked with Ortmeyer as her assistant for seven years.
"I think Rose Ann Ortmeyer has been the glue that's held this campus together," Mahoney said. "Her institutional memory has served every president and every student, every faculty member and every administrative staff person very well."
Several agreed Ortmeyer had accomplished an unusual feat: Serving several university presidents when, often, a new chief executive wants to hire his or her own staff.
Rome told the audience how he sees Ortmeyer's value.
"Because she knows everything, you don't have to think about it," he explained, "and she anticipates so much, which takes so much stress off of a president in a transition and even as you go forward.
"I think people take it for granted, but she makes so many decisions that I never even have to think about - and I probably don't even know that they were made! I get credit for a lot, but it's really Rose Ann who's done most of the work."
Ortmeyer said she doesn't know why so many administrators have kept her on the job.
"I do my job," she said. "My loyalty is to Lincoln University - although I've become very loyal to the presidents as they came."
And does she have any retirement plans in mind?
"I had said Dr. Mahoney was going to be my last one - but, when she decided to retire, I said, "I'm not ready, yet!'" Ortmeyer said. "And now with Dr. Rome, I don't want him to go anywhere."
Rose Ann Ortmeyer has worked for five full-time Lincoln University presidents:
• Thomas Miller Jenkins - 1984-86
• Wendell G. Rayburn - 1988-96
• David Henson - 1996-2005
• Carolyn Mahoney - 2005-12
• Kevin D. Rome - 2013-present