For over four decades, Little Falls resident Joanne Drellack dedicated herself to a career in the printing industry. Now, after 44 years of experience working in local print shops, Drellack has decided to enter a new chapter of retirement. However, her impact on the field and commitment to her craft will not be forgotten.
Drellack’s journey began as a high school student in the late 1970s. While attending Little Falls Community High School, she discovered a passion for graphic arts after enrolling in a classroom elective taught by instructor Merle Winkelman. Winkelman’s influence led Drellack to pursue the field after graduating in 1977.
“Nowadays, you don’t see a lot of people stick with one career for that long,” Drellack said. “When you have somebody like me in the field for that long, you have to have a passion for it. And I had a passion for it because I got it from that teacher. He had such an influence on me. And that’s why I went into the field.”
That fall, Drellack enrolled in a one-year graphic arts program at St. Cloud Technical & Community College. She excelled in her studies under instructor Frank Tank and obtained her certificate in 1979. Armed with this training, Drellack was ready to embark on a career.
On July 7, 1980, Drellack began her first job at Transcript Printing in downtown Little Falls under original owner St. Cloud Daily Times. When the newspaper decided to close Transcript Printing in 1982, manager Bill Blaine purchased the business and renamed it Blaine Printing with his wife, Rita Blaine.
Drellack continued working for Blaine Printing throughout the 1980s. She assisted with projects for clients like the Franciscan Sisters of Little Falls and St. Gabriel’s Hospital. In 1994, Roger Deterding and Tom Cotton acquired Blaine Printing and merged it with Little Falls Printing to form Spectrum Printing, which would later change its name to Spectrum Marketing Services. Drellack spent over 25 years with Deterding and Cotton at the business. The final acquisition Drellack saw during her career came in 2019, when Spectrum Marketing Services merged with Range Printing, resulting in the entire company then being called Range Printing.
Throughout her career shifts between owners, Drellack took on many roles, including within the camera, plating, typesetting, and customer service departments, with her final position within Range Printing before her retirement being as a senior account manager. She adapted to tremendous technological changes, from paste-ups and typesetting to digital file transfers and server uploads. Yet through it all, Drellack maintained strong relationships with clients both new and decades-long.
“I started out working with certain customers 40 years ago, and to this day, when I retired, I still worked with certain customers. I had them that long,” Drellack said. “You really formed a bond with these customers. You formed friendships with them, and I always said I didn’t care if a customer came in and had $10 in his pocket or if he had $1,000 in his pocket. You treated him with respect.”
Despite her lifelong passion for her work in the printing industry, after 44 years, Drellack decided it was time to close that chapter and enter a new one in retirement. Following an eight-week break from work as she recovered from back surgery in 2023, Drellack said her body was struggling to keep up with the demands of her work. She took this as a sign for her to embark on her next journey in life.
“I’ve got to mention my coworkers. I’ve worked with most of them for over 25 years. So I formed bonds with them, friendships, and I’m going to miss them,” Drellack said. “But it’s time for my new journey in life, to venture somewhere else. We’d like to do some traveling, maybe a few years down the road, but for right now, I’m just taking it easy, adapting to not working and enjoying life.”
In addition to her work, Drellack has always found time for hobbies like gardening, fishing, reading and spending weekends on her family’s Pike Creek Township farm with her husband, Jerry Drellack. She is also devoted to her daughter Stephanie and her grandchildren, 11-year-old Gabriel and 9-year-old Mikayla. Now in retirement as of Friday, May 31, Drellack looks forward to more leisure activities while reflecting fondly on 44 years in printing.
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