For many years, it has been my conviction that one of the best measures of a person is whether they left a place better than they found it.

And then there are people like retiring Mineola city manager Mercy Rushing. You don’t even have to ask the question. You just start making a list. (Actually, she provided the list, too, so we wouldn’t have to. That’s just how she is. Always ready, always prepared.)

That list stretches over seven pages. It includes projects too numerous to mention that have occurred during that past three-plus decades that have improved this community, in which Mercy played a part, usually a major part.

Just about anywhere you look, you can find evidence.

If someone made a George Bailey-like movie about what Mineola might look like had Mercy not been around, it might be pretty bleak indeed.

Mayor Jayne Lankford said that usually when she hears a concern from a citizen and takes it to Mercy, the city manager already knows about it and is working on a solution.

You can’t help but be enthusiastic about the prospects for Mineola when you’re around Mercy. Her well-documented energy and enthusiasm can be infectious.

If she sets her mind to accomplish something, you best get on board or at least get out of the way.

Despite what they said about Caesar, I’m not trying to write her obituary here. Far from it. Just trying to chronicle a remarkable story that likely has a few more interesting chapters still to be written.

Lankford said Mercy once told her that it’s her job to make the mayor look good, and that was no doubt a challenge (Jayne’s words, not mine).

That role extends to the entire city. Mercy has spent the better part of five decades doing just that, helping to make Mineola look good.

And there’s nothing superficial about it. Whether it’s helping to promote a healthy business climate or bringing amenities to the community that benefit long-timers, newcomers and visitors, Mercy has championed them.

Hers is a classic case of not being born here but getting here as quickly as she could.

When we arrived here in 2019, Mercy was still calling this newspaper the Mineola Monitor, more than two years after the name was changed to “Wood County.”

We understood. It was so ingrained after all those many decades.

I was finally able to break her of that habit – well, mostly – when she sent in a legal notice and requested it to be published in the Mineola Monitor, and I told her there was no way we could do that.

If Mercy had her way, it would still bear that moniker. Please don’t give her any ideas, now that she’s going to have some free time.