Kasza waiting to retire from city

By James Card

Kathy Kasza, the city’s finance director/treasurer, may finally be able to retire in the near future.

She announced her retirement plans this past winter but has continued to work in a part-time capacity as the city of Waupaca looked for her replacement.

The city recently hired Stephanie Reif. Her current title is assistant finance director and will be for the first six months on the job.

As she masters the position and gains more experience, she will eventually assume the full responsibilities as the city’s finance director and treasurer in the following six months.

Born and raised in Hartford, Reif earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration at University of Wisconsin-Platteville in 2016.

She worked in Stevens Point at Ortho Molecular Products, a maker of nutritional supplements for the health care industry in Stevens Point. There she served as an account manager and had other roles in purchasing and administration.

“It’s a big role to fill that’s for sure. It’s definitely different as far as the environment and the nature of the business. This is service-driven instead of profit-driven. I think a lot of the things I was doing at my previous position were very similar to what I’m doing now,” said Reif.

She has lived in Waupaca with her husband and children for the past six years.

Her husband, Tom Reif, is the physical education instructor at the Waupaca Learning Center and Waupaca Middle School.