Liza Roman has closed the books on Beacon Hill for the last time.
For 33 years Roman, a resident of the Fenway who has owned a bookkeeping business since 1980, made her way to Beacon Hill to watch over the financial records of many small businesses, including Hill House, the Beacon Hill Civic Association, The Esplanade Association and the Beacon Hill Business Association.
“It was nice to be part of organizations that do something for the community and are run by community people,” she said. “There are a lot of very committed people who spend a lot of time working to bring the organizations to the level they are today. The ‘numbers’ person is not a visible person in any organization but, in fact, we know everything that’s going on. So, even if I didn’t get to meet everyone, I had a good idea of the level of their involvement.”
Roman worked for Hill House for 16 1/2 years, allocating additional time as it grew from a small community center in 1966 to one whose Mt. Vernon and Joy Street buildings offer programs of athletic, creative and intellectual nature to children from several downtown neighborhoods. In recent years, it took four days a week to keep the finances in good order. Altogether, she worked under eight executive directors: Helen Heitman, Matt Edgerly, Scott McClintock, Jenn Munroe, Georgia Saylor, David Beardsley, Ian Morehouse and Lauren Hoops-Chemieg.
Roman was introduced to Hill House by the Beacon Hill Civic Association, where she worked with executive directors Tanya Holton, Sharon Glew, Suzanne Besser and Judith Hughes. She teamed up with Patrice Todesco at The Esplanade Association and Ellen Rooney at the Beacon Hill Business Association. She once shared an office with Cheryl Miller, executive director of the Beacon Hill Seminars and worked in close proximity with Lucinda Ross of the Beacon Hill Nursery School and Judy Willet of the Beacon Hill Village.
While on Beacon Hill, Roman also managed the books for three architectural firms: James McNeely Architects, Judge Skelton Smith Architects and Hickok Williams Architects.
She said she’d keep some of her smaller clients as she begins her retirement but is going to save plenty of time for yoga, jewelry making, reading to children and traveling.
She’s also going to return to Beacon Hill from time to time to take care of ‘Liza’s Garden’, a small plot of land with roses and flowers in front of the Hill House building. Dedicated to her in 2013 by Ian Morehouse, a plaque there encourages folks to take the time to ‘smell the flowers in life.’
Now, perhaps, Roman will have the time to do just that.