Linda Fraid is retiring after 32 years as the office manager at Pastorelli Foods. Linda is the first face you see when you enter Pastorelli Food Products and she always makes you feel welcome.

“There’s always something going on and I get to do a variety of different things,” Linda says as she sits in her office. Her desk is stacked with papers and post-notes stuck around the window sill. Filing cabinets and family photos surround the room.

Linda has worked with Pastorelli foods for 32 years, or since June 9, 1986, to be exact. She remembers the day so well, she recalls, because the following year, she attended a Pastorelli cousin’s wedding.

Before landing her job at Pastorelli Food Products, Linda worked for a few other companies. She jumped into the job market immediately after high school graduation. At first, Linda bounced around from one job to another, working as a cashier, at a garage, and in other numerous office jobs. These eventually gave her an upper hand when she applied for the job at Pastorelli Food Products. When her last place of employment prior to Pastorelli went out of business, she went to the Spanish Coalition. There, she spotted a job posting at Pastorelli Food Products for an office manager. This job seemed like a perfect fit, so she applied and this decision forged the direction of her life’s career.

When she got to the company, the first person she met was Leandro “Papa” Pastorelli.

“He seemed like a really nice man and was a great storyteller. Hearing the history behind the company, I was happy and excited to work for this family’s business,” she described her interview experience.

She has had many great experiences working at Pastorelli. For instance, when she won a trip to Switzerland on a radio contest.  While Linda was excited about the trip, Papa Pastorelli was a bit more skeptical. “‘Are you sure it’s legit?’ That’s what he asked me,” Linda laughs. While the trip was “legit,” Papa was still concerned about her safety. He made sure that she doubled checked before she left and told her to call him if anything came up.He didn’t want her to get stranded! She enjoyed her trip, while keeping everything he said in mind.

Paired with good memories of her years at Pastorelli Food Products, there have also been sad ones too, like when Papa Pastorelli passed away in 1995.

Papa Pastorelli’s grandson, Richard, is currently the owner of Pastorelli Foods. Richard has known Linda ever since he was a kid, and considers her to be part of his family. She even attended his wedding and visited the hospital when his children were born.

“Lindaalways greets everyone with a smile. She has been the face of Pastorelli for all our customers who over the past several decades,” Richard says about Linda. He says he always sounds his ideas off of Linda because she reliably offer her honest opinion and good advice to him.

Linda has always risen to the challenges that this business present without fail. Although she is retiring from the office, she will always be part of the Pastorelli family.

Written by: Karina Montelongo