Picture framer Mrs Kendall, 76, started working at Nevill Studios in early January 1966 as a 16-year-old.
On December 18, she will retire after working there for just short of 60 years.
When she joined Nevill Studios, she thought a five-year stint would a long time to be working in one place, Mrs Kendall said.
"And here I am, nearly 60 [years] — I can’t believe it.
"[Time’s] just flown."
She only interviewed for the job because her mother suggested it but it became something she really enjoyed.
She had mixed feelings about retiring because she was going to miss all the customers she had served over the years, she said.
"I can’t go anywhere in the South Island without running into [customers] somewhere.
"If you’re a good framer, people are the most important thing."
The business had transitioned a lot during her time there, Mrs Kendall said.
It went from shooting photographs in black and white to shooting in colour in the 1970s and eventually not shooting photos at all and became just a framing business.
She was there when present owner Greig O’Kane’s father, Ron O’Kane, bought the business in the 1960s.
She was quite meticulous by nature, so fitted the brief of the role well, she said.
By the time Nevill Studios transitioned into a framing-only business she had developed a careful eye for detail and was very good at proportioning things.
It was important to her to do her best when framing photographs.
"It doesn’t matter whether it’s worth $5 or $5000 — it has to be right," she said.
Seeing a customer’s positive reaction to her work was "the icing on the cake" for her.
"There have been tears because they’re just so delighted and they’ve actually said ‘it looks 100 times better than I thought it would look’."
She was going to call it a day when she turned 65 but that did not happen and she ended up working another 11 years.
However, it was time to go now because she wanted to see more of New Zealand and do things around her home.
She had always put her work first in her life and had been loyal to Nevill Studios for nearly six decades.
Her advice to young people was to find something they loved doing and to have a decent work ethic.
Mr O’Kane said Mrs Kendall was leaving a huge void in all the staff’s lives at Nevill Studios.
She was like a mother to him and she was taking away a wealth of experience, he said.
