In 2005, Sach Matsumoto was let go from her job in the mattress buying department of Sears Roebuck, but instead of yelling or following a more anger-based response, she said, “Thank you for the opportunity” and gracefully exited the Hoffman Estates office.
“I felt grateful, no matter what. They were a good company to work for, and they gave me the position when I first came here from Japan, so I couldn’t be upset when they had to let me go,” Matsumoto, a native of Japan who came to the United States in 1966 to be with her now late husband, said.
Sach Matsumoto (center) shows her July Employee of the Month plaque at Tom Peck Ford in Huntley. The Sun City resi- dent has worked at the dealership for seven years. (Photo provided)
Matsumoto opened the newspaper shortly after arriving in April 1966 to look for a job and on a whim decided to travel to Oak Park for an opening with Sears. She was hired and immediately started working in the accounts receivable, accounts payable, and personnel departments.
She moved to the mattress buying department a couple of years later and stayed there until 2005.
Her streak of unemployment lasted no more than a couple of hours, as she had a continuing agreement with Tom Peck, Jr. to work for his father’s car dealership when she decided to leave Sears.
“Shortly after I moved to the area, I visited his dealership to get a program advertisement for a concert. We talked and talked, and after a while, he said, ‘You better come work here when you leave your current job.’ I know he was joking, but once Sears let me go, I called him right away and asked if I could come work for him. And he said, ‘Yes,’ just like that. I was so lucky,” Matsumoto said.
Matsumoto has spent the last seven years at Tom Peck Ford of Huntley working numerous jobs around the office, including filing paperwork and filling in as a service cashier.
“She’s here five days a week and is usually in by 7:30, and all she does is work, work, work. It’s amazing,” said Becky Barrus, who controls AP, payroll, license and title, and social media for the dealership.
It was Matsumoto’s hard work and humbleness that earned her the title of July employee of the month for the dealership – something she never thought she would get, because she never works for recognition.
“I was called in on a Friday, and I was worried because people are usually fired on a Thursday, and some of my friends and co-workers didn’t know what I would be called in for. They even said if I was fired, they would refuse to come in. But I did go in, and all of a sudden, they told me that I was their employee of the month. I stopped crying for joy, for honor. I feel so lucky,” Matsumoto said.
Though no official celebration was held, Peck, Jr. engraved Matsumoto’s name on a plaque, which will be displayed high above her register for all to see.
“I always do my best, as much as I can, and that’s my story; my discipline. No matter what kind of work, I’ll try my hardest,” she said.
When not at the dealership, Matsumoto spends her time around Sun City, actively involved in a number of dancing, singing, and acting groups. She and her husband moved to Neighborhood 3 in 2005.
“I just love the area. It’s so close to work, and it’s a place where I’m able to go around and do anything. Because I am a widow, the activities and the dealership keep me busy every day, and I am very much lucky for it,” she said.
The 76-year-old resident has no plans of slowing down just yet. She has no clear idea of when she plans to leave the dealership. For now, she’ll just continue to greet every customer with a smile on her face.
