The Borough of Tamaqua will be losing some very familiar faces and a lot of experience before the year is over.

Four longtime employees submitted letters of retirement at Tuesday night's borough council meeting, several of them pending the approval of an early retirement benefit ordinance, which passed unanimously.John "Jack" Steele, Karen Davidson, Donna White and David "Chip" Christ all submitted letters of intent to retire before the end of 2014.Some of the retirements could take place within the next few weeks.Davidson and White work in the borough offices, while Steele and Christ work in the street department.Davidson, who is the assistant secretary of the borough, spent a few minutes during public comment recapping some of the highlights of her 35-year career with the borough."Since 1999, the borough workers have committed over $11,000 to the Schuylkill United Way," she said.She recounted fundraising efforts that took place when Tamaqua's chief of police became ill in 2004, and when another officer and a family member of another employee took ill in 2010."The community as a whole got together to raise money," she said, adding that borough workers frequently took collections and ran bake sales to help raise money."It was a good 35 year run," she said. "It hasn't always been good. We've seen births, we've seen weddings, and we've seen deaths, but it has been very enjoyable."Davidson's comments moved several of those in attendance to tears and were greeted by a round of applause.Several borough council members thanked the three future retirees who attended the meeting, Christ, Stone, and Davidson.Councilman Brian Connely, who also serves as the head of the water authority, specifically referred to Davidson's role with the water authority."What Karen does, it's just amazing. She has made my job so much easier."Mayor Christian Morrison said that receiving the letters of retirement was "surreal" for him."I will surely miss all four of you and I wish you the best of luck.