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Carol Mott receives the Nevada Press Association's Silver Star Award from Kurt Hildebrand during the 2013 NPA Awards Banquet.

ELKO – Among the unsung heroes of the workforce are the ones who keep an office running like clockwork to ensure customers are satisfied and company priorities are met.

One of those people is Carol Mott, who has served for more than 25 years at the Elko Daily Free Press in sales, advertising and commercial printing.

Mott has been a calm and steady presence. She is the face who greets customers with a smile when they place ads, life-changing announcements and print orders. She has also been the guiding hand who trained multiple employees at one time or another during her quarter-century tenure, offering a sympathetic ear, a droll joke and – most importantly – baked goodies at Christmas.

But most people who remember working alongside Mott consider her the “heart” of the Elko Daily Free Press.

Nancy Streets said Mott was one of the first people she met as she was deciding to come from Sparks to work as advertising director. “Her love for the Elko Daily Free Press and this community helped sway my decision to move here.”

“Carol is the glue that holds us all together. If ever we need help with something or have a question, she is the go-to person,” Streets said. “Carol, you’ll forever be in our hearts.”

“We want Carol to know how much she is appreciated, and how much we miss her at the office,” said Elko Daily editor Jeff Mullins. “From the beginning of our time together it has been clear that Carol is the heart and soul of the Free Press. She has also continuously been its hardest working and most successful staff member.”

Her co-worker Seana Chapman, who has sat beside Mott at the Elko Daily front office for years, called her “my beautiful, caring and amazing Carol. You mean so much to so many, but to me you mean the world. You walked beside me during my darkest hours, brighten my days and for that I am forever grateful. Thank you for sharing your heart.”

Many remember Mott for her expertise in advertising and knowledge of complex software programs.

“She knew all the elements of the paper and how everything went together, communicating with all the different departments,” said former advertising representative Lizz Todd.

Todd recalled Mott patiently teaching her, “helping me with all the paperwork and going on walks to clear our brains.”

She was so helpful that Chapman often repeated the phrase: “Don’t touch my stuff, Carol Merrill.”

Mott embraces everyone related to Free Press staff as family.

Todd’s daughter Makayla, who would visit the office, remembered drawing photos for Mott “and writing encouraging quotes on your white board from as young as I can remember.” Mott was there when Makayla recited a poem at a Cowboy Poetry event. “It was really special to have you there. We visited and joked all night.”

“Carol started out as a co-worker then became a very close friend, then as an extra mom, grandma and now great grandma,” said former employee Carrie Massie, who is now the general manager of Home 2 Suites. “She has the most selfless, unconditional love for everyone she meets, including strangers.

“We have had some great memories, laughs and tears,” Massie continued. “Carol will always hold an extra special place in my heart. I love you Carol!”

Former advertising director Summer Ehrmann described Mott as someone who “had a way of bringing a bright and cheery outlook to sometimes the most frustrating situation, especially in business, but also personally as well.”

“Just like everyone who works with Carol, we just end up being a member of Carol’s family,” Ehrmann continued. “We only worked together for a few years, but our connection has been strong over the years since. She has always been a part of my life.”

Many who started working at the Elko Daily Free Press remember Mott as the one who put them at ease, taught them their jobs, and opened her heart and home up to them as needed.

Perry White recalled Mott “taking me under her wing and making me feel at home. She was so kind and always cracking me up.”

Former employee Duane Fish said Mott became a “great friend to me as well as a second mother.”

“She knew how to take charge of making sure the right people got the right work, as she knew where our strengths laid,” Fish recalled. “She made sure that when things were getting stressful she would help us out as best as she could. She was never afraid to learn new things and was never scared to ask the questions.”

Mike Magney told how Mott “took me under her wing” when he worked at Elko Daily in 1999. He soon learned that “Carol knew everything there was to know about the inner workings of the Free Press.”

“Carol Mott’s knowledge, experience, and helpfulness was and is, I believe, a critical part of whatever success Elko’s small-town newspaper has enjoyed,” Magney said.

“When I first started working at the newspaper back in 2008 she welcomed me with open arms, literally, she said she was ‘a hugger’, haha,” said Amber Eliades, who worked with Mott for more than six years. “I immediately knew I made a new friend and felt right at home. She was a great trainer and taught me how to do things the right way.”

Former EDFP accounting managers Tara Roberts and Dorothy Vance remembered their time working with Mott. “A very sweet, kind and loving person,” Vance said.

“When I started at EDFP in November of 2007, Carol immediately made me feel welcome and at home with her beautiful smile and warm hugs,” Roberts recalled. “She has been mother hen to so many of us over the years.”

“She is a special kind of person who can love and care unconditionally and I am grateful to have had the pleasure of working with her and to be able to call her a friend,” Roberts continued. “She’s been a great friend for years even after I moved on to a new job. She remembers your kids, spouse, and even your pets.”

Former reporter and mining editor Marianne Kobak McKown wondered, “How do you describe an angel on Earth?”

“If you know Carol, you love her,” McKown said. “She is the kindest person I know with a heart large enough to care for everyone who crosses her path.”

“I worked with Carol at the Elko Daily Free Press from 2007-2011 and like many, many others, Carol became my friend and mentor,” said Sara Reynolds. “She is so understanding, patient, kind, fun-loving and generous. We had some really fun times at work and at the game nights that she would host. Every time we spoke over the years, it was like talking to a family member.”

Former advertising executive Kassidy Arbillaga called Mott “the type of person that from the moment you meet her, you love her. She is every wonderful word and phrase in the world wrapped up in a human form. She cares so deeply for every person she meets and instantly becomes your family, a mother figure, a grandmother figure and your best friend.”

Mott made lasting friendships with everyone who worked in editorial and advertising.

“Carol was one of the first people to greet me and introduce herself when I hired on at the paper in June of 2014, and she has been an important person in my life for the past eight years,” said Sports Editor Anthony Mori. “She is the definition of class, respect, grace, selflessness and a true friend.”

“Carol Mott is a true friend who would gladly give you the shirt off her back,” said former reporter Cynthia Delaney. “I respect and admire her positive attitude and years of service.”

Former reporter and mining editor Suzanne Featherston recalled Mott “providing perspective about work and life.”

“She was attentive to customers and her coworkers, listening well and understanding work and life through her sensitive manner,” Featherston continued. “Carol helped remind us of the newspaper’s legacy. She would talk about all her years of working there and describe how so much had changed, but how the newspaper is still important to the community.”

Elko Daily correspondent and former mining editor Adella Harding recalled getting to know Mott when she was putting together the early editions of the mining magazine “back in the day when copy was printed and then pasted to fit the pages I designed.”

“Those paste-up sessions were a lot of work and entailed a few giggles, too,” Harding wrote.

Mott even helped Harding’s husband organize their garage while he was ill. “I will be forever grateful for her help with the major task of sorting out all the tools and gadgets and junk.”

Mott and her husband Gail frequently opened their home to anyone for games and food or to help someone in need. Rhonda Zuraff recalled Mott’s generosity as she and her family moved to Elko in 2004 when Zuraff became the publisher of the Free Press.

When Zuraff’s daughter Chloe had health issues that required frequent trips to Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City, Mott would stay overnight with their older daughter Hannah during emergencies, later hosting slumber parties for both girls at her home.

“It really meant the world when you move to a more remote community and you don’t have an extended family or even friends that you met at that point to have someone like Carol to step up on a personal front,” Zuraff said. “I’ll always treasure it.”

Former sports editor Sam Brown called Mott a friend for 22 years. “In her inimitable way, Carol gently but firmly told me that putting out a newspaper on deadline is hard work and requires some sacrifice.”

“I spent most of the next nine years working in the Free Press newsroom, which of course meant working shoulder to shoulder with Carol. No one has a more positive outlook on life than dear Carol,” Brown added. “She was a strong, steadying and calming influence in the chaos of daily deadlines.”

“Who doesn’t love Carol? She is the same with everyone she knows. Sweet, tough, respectful, inquisitive,” said former Elko Daily reporter and mining editor Doug McMurdo. “She always has a smile that lights up her eyes like a Christmas tree.”

“I worked with Carol at the Free Press from 2004-2014,” said former EDFP Sports Editor Martin Harris. “Carol Mott is one of the most genuinely kind people I’ve ever worked with. I remember when I first met her when I started at the EDFP, and she made me feel welcome from Day 1. She was one of my first friends at the Free Press.”

Former publisher John Pfeifer managed papers in Elko and Twin Falls between 2010 and 2013. He remembered Mott being “highly motivated” to meet monthly commercial printing goals. “She was a joy to work with. She kept the trains running on time throughout the whole building.”

Mott’s laughter and jokes made the days go faster.

“My funniest memory was when she disclosed to me that her celebrity crush was Dave Navarro,” Perry White recalled. “I never would have guessed! Typically if the front office staff were cracking up over something, nine times out of 10 it was due to Carol!”

Duane Fish remembered Mott bringing the 1990’s latest electronic toy – a Furby – to the office, but it only recorded Mott’s voice repeating “Duane, Duane” and captured no other voices or words.

Mott was also the instigator of the “crab prank,” said Hope Cripps. “I’ll never forget the months-long torture of the crab prank. In my desk drawer, on my chair, in your desk drawer when you sent me looking for something, and so on until I had finally found all of those gross little spider-like crustacean tree ornaments that you thought were so ‘adorable.’ I can still feel my skin crawl.”

Lizz Todd also remembered the “laughs at Christmas time about a white tree with red crabs.”

John Pfeifer also recalled Mott winning a large stuffed teddy bear at a staff Christmas party that would sit in his chair in the office when he wasn’t there. “She put my Mining Expo badge and lanyard around its neck.”

“She was the consummate professional, took her job seriously but also managed to mix in a healthy amount of fun and laughs,” Anthony Mori added. Her baked goods, smile, stories, inquiries and help are things I have thoroughly benefited from my time at the Elko Daily Free Press.”

“I’m positive there are hundreds, if not thousands, of people that Carol has positively impacted through her work and her life,” he said.

Former advertising executive Betti Magney remembered celebrating the Fourth of July at Mott’s house and her “superb, loving hosting that made everyone feel at home. And, OMG, your baking!”

“Carol is an exceptional baker,” agreed Kassidy Arbillaga. ”Every Christmas season she spends hours, days, even weeks baking the best holiday goodies. I dream of her lemon bars and apple tarts all year around. She puts in all those hours just to make the people around her smile. And she’ll always send you home with far too much sugar so that your family could have some.”

Mott’s love for all people has been evident.

“I have never met anyone that was so genuinely kind to ALL people,” White remembered. “She truly liked people and would open her home to anyone. We had so many fun get-togethers at her house. We would eat, laugh, vent, and leave with a full heart and belly. I miss that.”

Eliades and McKown recounted how they grew closer to Mott through the walks they took during their breaks. “Carol would always go on daily walks with her coworkers, including me,” McKown said. “She was always there to encourage us to practice healthy behaviors.”

Through those walks, “she really became like another mother to me,” Eliades said.

Elko County Commissioner and former Free Press editor and publisher Rex Steninger remembered Mott and her husband Gail as “a big part of our team at the paper when we sold it in 2000. She is probably among the longest-serving Free Press employees in our history.”

“Our family remembers Carol for her kindness, ready smile and willingness to do whatever she could to help,” Steninger continued. “Once in a while, as an employer, you have the good fortune to hire someone who seems to genuinely appreciate and like her job — and her employers! Carol was that lady.”

“Everyone that worked with Carol liked and admired her,” said Mae Steninger. “We hope the Good Lord has a special place for her. She deserves it.”

“I worked with Carol for about four years and during that time everything I witnessed her do was selfless,” wrote Terra Jacobs. “All the years I worked with Carol, she was constantly asking how she could help everyone else, despite the mass amount of work she had on her own plate.”

“She has the kindest heart and a special way of comforting people, from those walking in the door to place obituaries, to one of us in the office that was just having a rough day,” Jacobs continued.

“Carol deserves so much more than what this life has given her but she’s lived with grace, compassion and that beautiful smile on her face,” Roberts added. “The world could use more people like her.”

Mott has battled cancer for more than six years. She entered hospice care several days ago, prompting an outpouring of love and memories from co-workers past and present, customers and friends.

Mott said she would like her legacy to be that people would remember “Jesus Christ our Lord is our Savior and that He died for our sins. It is our job in this life to love each other the same way that He loved us, that we are precious and forgiven.”

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Carol Mott receives the Nevada Press Association's Silver Star Award from Kurt Hildebrand during the 2013 NPA Awards Banquet.

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