Over the past 38 years, Newton County's population has more than doubled - the school system has added 13 new schools and the United States has fought in three major wars. Through it all, something special happened at Fairview Elementary School.  

That comes to an end Friday.

Elizabeth and Henry Shepherd are a testament to loyalty. The couple has worked as custodians in the county's school system since 1972, where they started at Porterdale Elementary before moving to Fairview in 1988.

The two became involved with the school system after Henry took a second job at Porterdale during the day. At the time, Henry worked full-time at Lithonia Lighting and needed a way to make extra money.

"I started working at Lithonia Lighting in nineteen hundred and sixty five," said Henry. "I worked there 30 years until they downsized. The guys with the most seniority got the hours."

Henry worked at Lithonia Lighting on the second shift when he began his career in at Porterdale. For 22 years, the jobs overlapped until he retired in 1995. Since then, he's focused solely on his head custodial responsibilities.

Working with the same coworkers, let alone a family member for 38 years, can be a challenge. But Henry said that never stood in the way of their professional life. In fact, he added the time together helped.

"Well, my wife always knew what was going on throughout the school," Henry said. "At night, we would think back over some things we needed to talk about and work on for the next day, so that was good."

Along with the 38 years of work together, the couple has been married for 44. Henry said he first met Elizabeth when the two were teenagers and they married shortly after. The couple has seen their share of ups and downs, but through it all, faith and a mutual dedication to each other have helped the Shepherds.

"Well, we've been through some tough times but we've always worked through them," Henry said. "When we got married it meant 'til death do us part. And that's just what I plan to do."

Henry said the people they met during their time at both Porterdale and Fairview gave them a sense of extended family everyday.

"We met a lot of teachers and kids and they were all so great," Henry said. "It's really hard to describe how it's really touched our lives. With all the students we met up there at Porterdale and Fairview, felt like they were our kids."

Elizabeth said the couple had been talking about retiring for a while and had a hard time making the decision.

"We talked about it two years ago and Henry said we should wait another year," Elizabeth said. "We talked about it and finally decided last year that this would be our final year."

While the Shepherd's retire from full-time service, they admit they can't completely stay away. Henry said he hopes to work out a situation where they can work part time.

As fixtures in the Newton County education system, all three of the Shepherd's children went through the county's schools and Elizabeth said the couple still enjoys regular family gatherings.

During last week's retirement ceremony, several members of the county's education community showed signs of appreciation including Board of Education member C.C. Bates who made it a point to personally thank the two for their years of service after everyone else had filtered out of the dining hall.

Henry said they worked under 13 principals during their tenure and joked it took every one of them to run them out of the system. Their most recent principal, Holly Dubois held back tears and gave them both hugs before she left. She will be moving on to the South Salem Elementary next year as the new school's principal, but the Shepherds will still be around.

If you ask Henry, they'll be around for as long as their welcome.

"I don't ever want to stop working at the school," he said. "I know someday I'll have to leave entirely. But we're going to keep going as long as we're able to."