On June 16, Paulette Martis packed up her office on the campus of Michigan State University and headed to her car with 48-plus years of memories.

Her retirement week had started early on Monday morning, followed by a lunch with her coworkers and family on Tuesday where she was presented with two MSU jerseys to honor her 33 years in athletics and 48 years of service overall for the university. On Wednesday came a photo shoot in Spartan Stadium with pictures snapped on the 50-yard line, posing in front of the original Sparty statue, and even in Mel Tucker's Polaris Slingshot. Finally to end the week, Martis took a trip up to the press box in Spartan Stadium, her favorite place.

"The week was pretty emotionally draining," Martis said. "So I had to make one last trip up there to finish it off."

If you have had the privilege of working with Martis — who was most recently the office coordinator for the MSU Athletics Communications department — you will know how organized, dedicated, personable and loyal she is.

Martis is my distant cousin, but more than that, I am happy to call her a friend. When I began covering games at MSU, she was overjoyed to see my name on the list and made me feel right at home every single time I wore my press pass. I looked forward to running into her on game days, but we could never talk too long since she was always on the go.

I had the opportunity to chat with Martis about her career at Michigan State.

Martis started her MSU career moving in and around a few academic departments on campus before eventually landing in the intramural department. Being a life long sports fan, having a career working in athletics was the perfect fit for Martis.

"Since 1977, my career has revolved around either intramural or intercollegiate sports," Martis summarized.

One thing that stood out to Martis as she looked back on her career was Title IX and all the changes she witnessed in women's athletics at MSU.

"When I was in the intramural department, a lot of the women pioneers at MSU were in classes over there," she recalled. "I watched (former Michigan State women's basketball coach) Karen Langeland coach basketball in the IM circle, where I worked, then to the IM West, then to Jenison, and then to the Breslin (Center)."

Watching women's basketball now being played in the same arena as the men's team is noteworthy to Martis because of where everything started for that program and how far it has come.

A huge theme that stuck out to me during my conversation with Martis is just how much she has enjoyed watching the growth of women working in college athletics. She has seen the press box at Spartan Stadium grow to a mix of all kinds of professionals, including many women journalists.

"I remember the first home football game I worked in the press box, the Notre Dame game in 1990 ... I can't remember how many other women reporters were up there, but there was one woman I remember, Mary Kay Cabot from Cleveland," Martis recalled. "I never said anything to her, but that is one name that always sticks out when I hear it. I remember her being in the press box as a young reporter."

Martis has witnessed tremendous triumphs and devastating lows for the Spartans from her place in the press box on game days, and when thinking of favorite games during her career, she had this simple response: "Some of the more memorable moments ... a lot of them seem to involve football against Michigan!"

She went on to give more details about her unforgettable experiences versus the Wolverines.

"I was working at MSU, but not in athletics yet," Martis started. "It was 1978, Kirk Gibson and Eddie Smith were playing and that was the first time I had been to Michigan's stadium. We were leading at halftime ... at halftime we are walking up to get something to eat and all the Michigan fans are sitting there like 'What the hell is happening,' and then we go on to win that game. That was a lot of fun to be there.

"I've been to a couple others, but I was down there for the 'trouble with the snap' game, sitting in the press box. That was the last game I attended in Michigan's stadium, and I kind of want to leave it on that note and not go back. Those are my bookend games down there."

Martis summarized our conversation by sharing that the best part of her job (and what she will miss the most) is working with all the people in her office and the many people she came into contact with on game days.

Following the announcement of her retirement on Twitter, as an ever-organized and goal-oriented worker, Martis commented that she wished she would have waited to post her message until after her office was packed up since she was distracted by the outpouring of love that Spartan Nation and many media members provided her with.

Check out a few of the responses to her tweet here:

Martis has been enjoying her retirement with visits from family and taking some time to work out what her new normal is going to be. She is hoping to return for football season to continue to help out. Based off what I know about her role, she will be a welcome and calming presence on hectic game days.

Congratulations to Paulette Martis on her amazing career! She has helped many of our writers on numerous game days and always made sure we had everything that was needed. Spartans Illustrated wishes her a happy retirement.