CANFIELD — Cheri Smith sits at the dispatch desk at the Canfield Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol with a box of Cheerios nearby and 1980s music on the radio at a low volume.

It’s Thursday — the day before her official retirement date — but she will work for another two weeks because she wants to be sure the post is well staffed through the Canfield Fair.

Friday marked 40 years and one month since her career as a dispatcher began, and this is hardly the first time she’s put her colleagues first.

Sgt. Patrick Abel has worked with her six years but has known her much longer. It’s classic Cheri, he said.

“She’s full of life,” he said. “Her humanity and how she always cares about everybody else, she always puts everybody else before herself, so that’s the biggest takeaway, is that she’

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