Barb Wise always aimed to retire at the age of 62.

Wise, who has been the executive director of Greene County United Way for more than six and a half years, will be celebrating her 62nd birthday next month. She will step down from her position Dec. 21.

Wise said her retirement has been in the works for about a year.

“I just thought it was time to travel with my husband and enjoy life a little bit,” Wise said. “I’ve always known I was going to retire at 62, and it was just natural.”

Before starting as executive director in 2011, Wise served on the United Way executive board for six years. In 2005—the same year Wise began her time with United Way—she was honored as Community Builder of the Year.

Wise feels fortunate in the way she progressed throughout her career.

“It’s like every time I get a job, I get a little bit higher,” Wise said. “So it’s been a great climb.”

According to Wise, when she started at United Way, she didn’t have as much guidance.

“I walked in, and I had no one to train me,” Wise said. “So I’m just hoping that they hurry up and hire someone so that I can help train [them] and [they] don’t have to go through the anxiety that I went through. I taught myself. I made mistakes. I fixed them. I hired an assistant right away.”

Although Wise helped to raise more than a million dollars during her time at the organization, she wishes she could have raised even more.

At least $1.5 million has been raised in Wise’s tenure, and at least $450,000 were given to United Way’s 17 partner agencies. The relationships that Wise built with those organizations are what she will miss the most about United Way.

“I think I’ll miss my agencies more than anything,” Wise said. “That connection that we have. I hope I still keep in touch with them. I think I probably will, but not on the level that an executive director would. I’ll really miss them, but a lot of them are my friends now.”

Wise takes pride in having relationships that can be used for the benefit of others.

“I think that’s the one thing I’m proud of is that I have all the connections that people need,” Wise said. “A lot of people come to me and ask me for advice, I guess, and I would tell them. I would help them brainstorm.”

Helping others has long been a passion of Wise. She has worked with several volunteer organizations and has also labored to pilot shelter efforts, such as the Warm Nights initiative, which offers temporary shelters to those who are in need on cold nights. Wise helped launch Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster, a group that obtained donations from large corporations in response to the flooding that took place in Waynesburg last December. Largely because of Wise’s work, $21,000 were raised for the flood victims.

Although Wise doesn’t plan on being involved with United Way when she steps down as Executive Director, she sees herself still being heavily involved with volunteer work. For Wise, leaving United Way will allow her to continue volunteering, without the stress of her fundraising responsibilities.

After retiring, when Wise isn’t volunteering, she will spend her free time with her grandkids, as well as go on vacations. Although Wise sees retiring, finally, as a relief, she expects her last day on the job to be emotional.

“I cry a lot,” Wise said.  “I’m very emotional. There’s no doubt in my mind I’ll cry [on the last day]. Because I’ll miss it. I put my heart and soul into it.”