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Longtime Delta County clerk prepares to retire

Served as first female elected, longest running clerk

By Sophie Vogelmann 9 min read

ESCANABA -- After 26 years in office, 785 Delta County Board meetings and more than 50 elections, Nancy Przewrocki is preparing to retire as the longest-serving county clerk and register of deeds in Delta County history.

Przewrocki made history as the first woman elected to the position, beginning a career that would span more than two decades. As she looks back on her time in office, she is quick to credit the colleagues and staff who supported her throughout the years.

“I had the honor of working with a lot of really good people, other officials and administrators, and then, of course, my staff," Przewrocki said. "I can’t say enough good things about my staff that I’ve been able to hire over the years. They’re good with the public, they’re willing to put in the hours. I wouldn’t be able to do my job without them."

Przewrocki's years of service have earned recognition beyond Delta County. In 2024, she was named the Michigan Association of County Clerks' Clerk of the Year.

Her path to the clerk's office began in 2001, when her brother-in-law encouraged her to run for the position. At the time, Wallace "Wally" Thorsen was preparing to retire after 12 years as county clerk, opening the door for Przewrocki -- formerly Kolich -- to begin what would become a 26-year career in the office.

"At first, I was like, ‘Why would I want to do that?' But then I looked into it. I talked with Wally. I talked with the Menominee County Clerk to find out what the duties were, and I realized it was something I could do," Przewrocki said.

Przewrocki recalled the moment she decided she would run.

"One evening, I was standing at my sink doing dishes and kind of thinking about 'Should I do this or not?' And all of a sudden, I had this feeling my grandmother was with me."

Przewrocki had spent a lot of time with her grandmother throughout her young adult life, though her grandmother passed when Przewrocki was 16 years old.

"She basically was there and told me that this is something I should do. I still get goosebumps just thinking about it this many years later," Przewrocki said.

Przewrocki, who was also an election worker, then began attending Delta County Board meetings, which at that time were only once a month. By the time she retires Oct. 1, Przewrocki will have attended 785 board meetings.

The longtime county clerk said campaigning involved a lot of hard, boots-on-the-ground work, especially as she ran against four other candidates for the position.

"I did a lot of door-to-door (campaigning), parades and stuff. And I wound up winning," Przewrocki added. "Then it was like, uh oh. I had a lot of work to catch up on, because I wasn't really familiar with the Circuit Court portion of it and, of course, the vital records."

During Przewrocki's tenure, 25 county commissioners have served, as well as eight administrators, two circuit court judges, three circuit court administrators, six friends of the court, two sheriffs and two treasurers. Przewrocki served on several hiring committees for appointments of county officials.

Przewrocki has also had four chief deputies work in her office, including Sandy Dagenais, Hope Rudden, Susanne Dubord and Kylee Hanson, as well as two chief deputy register of deeds, Carl Carlson and Rob Buchler.

The Delta County clerk is responsible for handling all circuit court filings, including felonies and lawsuits over $25,000; family and probate court filings; vital records -- birth, deaths and marriages -- dating back to 1861; background checks and elections.

Przewrocki described her position and office as being the hub for local clerks in elections, as she works with the Bureau of Elections and the Secretary of State office. She currently works with the 16 local clerks in the county for elections, public notices and more.

Starting in 2024, the clerk's office began handling early voting.

"That takes up a lot of time. I do most of those duties, and my staff helps with the filings -- when somebody comes in and files to be on the ballot. They handle all those things and as much as they can. There’s just only so much time in a day," Przewrocki said.

Przewrocki also recalled when she would program all of the elections from 2005 to 2022.

"When I was doing that, I really was spending a lot of extra time getting all that up and going. That’s a lot of extra hours," Przewrocki said. "Before COVID, we used to have housekeepers that would work from four to midnight, and they’d come in (to the clerk's office) at like 10 (minutes) to 12 and say, 'We’re leaving now. Are you sure you’re going to be okay?' And I’m like, 'Yeah, I’m fine."

Many changes have been implemented in Przewrocki's office over the past couple of decades, as well. In 2007, Przewrocki began officiating marriages and has since performed over 600 weddings.

"Those are some of the good things about the job, getting birth certificates to people, helping them get passports. Those are kind of the fun things. There’s a lot of not so fun things that happen through the circuit court, and so it's always nice to have the good things," Przewrocki noted.

Many community members walk into the clerk's office on what may be one of the worst days of their lives or during an especially difficult period. Przewrocki says her office strives to provide support and assistance to people navigating those challenging circumstances.

Przewrocki said, "When people come in and they’re very emotional because bad things are happening in their life, and we just try to help them through the process -- personal protection orders, deaths and sometimes criminal charges, so my staff is really good about just trying to help people navigate through it and what we can do."

While the clerk's office can assist community members in many situations, there are limits to the problems it can address and the solutions it can provide.

"That’s always the hardest thing -- we feel for them, but this is what the law says, and it’s not helpful to them, that’s hard to deal with when we know it’s not fair. The justice system tries to be as fair as it can be, but in some cases, it just isn’t fair."

Even when the office cannot change the outcome of a situation, Przewrocki says there is value in listening to the public and offering them compassion.

"Sometimes I’m just amazed at how helpful sometimes just being sympathetic (can be), just letting somebody say what they need to say. You know, (we say), 'I’m so sorry that this is happening to you. This is what we can help you with.'"

Przewrocki's office also handles all concealed pistol licenses in the county. One of her goals while serving as clerk was to have all applicants fingerprinted through her office, though that has not yet come to fruition.

Applicants for a concealed pistol license are currently sent to Lakestate Industries -- a third party -- to be fingerprinted for a fee of $25. If done through the clerk's office, Przewrocki said they would charge $15 -- a state-mandated charge -- and the process would be more convenient and streamlined for applicants.

"What I was hoping to do, and it’s always been a goal, is to have the fingerprinting done through the clerk’s office," Przewrocki said. "That really is a number one goal, and I’m sure that will be the same for Sue Dubord, the new clerk coming in. I’m sure she will keep trying to get that."

While getting fingerprinting handled through the clerk's office remains a major goal, Przewrocki said the office continues to face a major challenge: having enough staff to take on the additional work.

"Because I only have two employees doing all of this work there’s just not enough time for us to actually do the fingerprinting. We're working on getting a third employee. We’re taking in enough money to cover that," Przewrocki added.

According to Przewrocki, all other clerk offices in Michigan's Upper Peninsula -- excluding Keweenaw and Schoolcraft Counties -- have at least three full-time staff members. The county currently employs two full-time and two part-time staff positions in the Delta County Clerk’s Office, according to Delta County Administrator Emily DeSalvo.

At an August Delta County Board meeting, Przewrocki expressed her disappointment over the county budget’s lack of funds for an additional deputy clerk position in her office.

Przewrocki reminded commissioners that a position in the clerk's office has generated an additional $100,000 in county revenue annually over the past three years, driven by a 600 percent increase in completed background checks. However, the county has yet to allocate funding for the additional position Przewrocki requested for her office.

According to DeSalvo, a personnel committee meeting for Przewrocki was scheduled to discuss adding the new position with the commissioners, though commissioners have not yet made a decision on the position.

Despite staffing challenges, Przewrocki said the community's appreciation for her office's work reminds her that she and her staff are making a difference.

"Sometimes I’m amazed at people that come up and thank me for doing my job. I know the public is appreciative of the things we do in our office, and again, it’s not just me, it’s definitely my staff," Przewrocki said.

Looking forward to her retirement, Przewrocki is excited to move to her husband's farm in Menominee where the two produce honey and grow several varieties of fruit, including peach trees, raspberries, pears, nectarines and cherries.

"It’ll keep me busy, so I’ll be focused on that. I’ll miss the people that I work with. Like I said, I have great employees, and they’ve always been good to me, so I’ll miss them," Przewrocki concluded. "I'm ready to become a farmer, full-time wife and full-time grandma."

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Sophie Vogelmann can be reached at 906-786-2021, ext. 148, or svogelmann@dailypress.net.

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