Nora Nash Retires After Long Pharmacy Career
Three decades ago, Nora Nash was waiting tables when a chance encounter changed her life in ways she never could have imagined.
While working at Howard Johnson’s, which she did for 18 years, Nash met Andy Johnson, the owner of a pharmacy in Lexington. He offered her a job and Nash never looked back. Now 66, Nash retired this fall, leaving behind a legacy of hard work, determination and kindness.
“It’s just a blessing every step of the way,” Nash said. “The people that have given me the chance that thought enough of me to hire me and let me do what I can do, I can’t thank enough.”
On Sept. 30, Nash completed her final day at Lexington Prescription Center as a compounding pharmacy technician. She worked there for 17 years and said she built relationships that make saying goodbye so hard.
She began her journey to becoming a compounding tech when Johnson offered her a job at the pharmacy he owned in Lexington, Bierer’s Pharmacy.
“He called me one night and offered me the job because he said he knew I worked well under pressure because he watched me waiting tables,” she said.
Nash did not know anything about working in a pharmacy, but Johnson told her he would teach her. She began as a clerk in the front, but before long, she was learning about how to fill prescriptions and mix customized medications.
“After about 10 months, [Johnson] asked me if I was bored out front and I told him, ‘Yes,’” Nash said. “And he said, ‘Good,’ because that was his plan.”
Nash, who grew up on a farm in Fairfield, said learning to be a compounder was an opportunity vastly different from the more isolated life she lived before, all thanks to Johnson.
“He changed my life,” Nash said. “Number one for hiring me and then for teaching me how to compound.”
After Bierer’s closed, Nash was hired by the Lexington Pharmacy Center where she has been ever since.
Owner Jeffrey Goldstein said she will be missed for her infectious joy and relentless dedication to her work.
“She has always been a great worker,” Goldstein said. “She is very kind and very patient with people, especially customers. She always goes out of her way for patients. Everybody knows what kind of a special person she is.”
Her daily responsibilities, she explained in an interview early this month, included making medications that are not available commercially such as doses for children, pets and hormone replacement therapy. She also prepared custom medications for patients, which can involve mixing and combining ingredients.
Nash said that Goldstein and the Lexington Pharmacy Center went above and beyond to make her feel special in the weeks prior to her retirement.
“I’ve been celebrated for a month,” Nash said. “It’s incredible. There has been a little token every day in the compound room for me to open.”
Goldstein made her an ambrosia maple vase and others put together cards, a big frame and lots of food for the celebration. She also received gifts from loving customers whom she helped across the years.
As her last responsibility working for the Lexington Pharmacy Center, Nash wanted to sign off in a simple, but meaningful way.
“I told them I want to walk back in the compound room and I want to turn the light off,” she said. “That was my final duty.”
Nash said she is ready to enjoy some time off of her feet and have the ability to tackle some tasks she did not have time for before.
“Because I’ve worked such long hours for so long and haven’t had a lot of time off, for right now I just want to be at home and enjoy being in my own home.”
But she says she will greatly miss working at Lexington Pharmacy Center and being a compounding tech because of the people it brought into her life.
“We’re just all family. Everyone just cares about everybody.”
