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Speak Up

"A whole lot of things make her special. We get along fairly well most of the time. I'm glad to see her done this shift work, it has been 30 years. We can do some more things together now."

Ed Haines

Ann Cleveland's partner

***

"My mom is a very, very compassionate person. She has such a calm and caring personality, nothing upsets her. You can talk to her about everything. If I'm ever upset about anything, she's the person I call because she can talk me through anything.

"I get very emotional when I talk about my mom. She is a very good person all the way around. She's a huge part of my kids' lives and always has been. If they ever want to talk about anything and can't come to me, they call Grammy. It's all emotional support. She has no clue how important she is to not just us, her close family members, but to a wide range of people.

"Mom and I do everything together. I call her at least 10 times a day. All of my friends know my mother and they love her right to death and know what a special person she is.

"Her sewing is amazing. She can make elaborate wedding dresses and she thinks that anybody can do it. She has no idea how talented she is.

"She puts everybody else first, especially her kids. If I could be half the mother she is ... I really hope my kids think as much of me when they get older as I do of my mom, and respect me as much as I do her. She did a wonderful job with all of us."

Adrienne Cleveland

Cleveland's daughter

***

"I think what makes Ann special is that she's dedicated her entire life to the exact same job in the exact same position, serving the citizens of Fredericton.

"Experience certainly has grown her profession and after over 30 years of doing the job she's handles so many cases or scenarios that when a call comes in to 9-1-1 and it's a severe type of call with an obvious emergency, for Ann now, it's not the first time she's ever handled that call.

"Ann is the longest reigning 9-1-1 operator in our country and that's pretty significant. She's commonly referred to here as Mother Cleveland. There are 25 of us here and to us she is like our second mother."

Roger Shannon

Manager of the 9-1-1 division

Cleveland's boss and friend

***

"Ann has been an instrumental figure in the communication centre. She's known for her sharp tongue backed by a heart of gold.

"Ann has been known by her co-workers as 'Mother Cleveland' for as long as I can remember and for good reason, at some point and time she's been everybody's mother. She's feared by some and loved by all.

"Ann takes great pride in serving the community and has been instrumental in training over 20 9-1-1 operators during her career.

"Ann has been a valuable asset with the City of Fredericton and will be missed by all."

David Banks

Cleveland's supervisor