PEMBROKE — Donna Pratt never thought she'd serve as Pembroke's town clerk for nearly three decades.But she enjoyed the job, the people she worked with and the challenges she faced in the position for 29 years.

Pratt will retire July 27, nine months before her term expires. She submitted her resignation letter to selectmen Monday.

“I liked working with the people,” said Pratt, 63, who said she plans to move to Florida. “You never know what's going to come in here.”

Selectmen say they will likely appoint an interim town clerk until next year's town election. They will not hold a special election.

“To the best of my knowledge there's no requirement to hold a special election,” Selectmen Chairman Paul T. Dwyer III said. “We've had people leave that were in elected positions. Somebody's been appointed to replace them.”

Dwyer said his board would discuss the position at its meeting Monday and appoint a temporary replacement at its July 16 meeting. Before appointing a replacement, he said, he would want to know who is interested in the job.

Town Administrator Edwin Thorne said this is the “first time anybody's retired in midstream like this” during his time in town.

In her resignation letter to selectmen, Pratt recommended the board appoint her assistant, Maureen Robinson, as town clerk until the 2008 annual town election.

Pratt said Robinson has been her assistant for 10 years and has carried out her duties while she was on vacation. She has also attended town clerk seminars and started the process of becoming a certified town clerk.

“She's got the experience,” Pratt said yesterday. “You need someone with some experience in here.”

Thorne and Dwyer said they have heard other residents are also interested in the job.

Pratt moved to Pembroke from Weymouth in 1956. She worked as a secretary for Eastern Airlines before taking about 15 years to raise her four children.

She started working for the town as a secretary in the police department in 1978. She was laid off during budget cuts in the early 1980s but was hired immediately as assistant town clerk, she said.

She first ran for town clerk in 1984, when the former town clerk retired. She has run unopposed ever since.

During her tenure, she supervised the change from paper ballots to punch card ballots to an optical scan voting system. She was also involved in computerizing programs for dog and marriage licenses and business certificates.

She was also involved in redistricting as a result of population growth. When she first became clerk, the town had three precincts. Now there are five, she said.

Pratt said she has been thinking about retiring for a while. She originally planned to retain her position until the 2008 election.

She and her husband, who retired last month, built a home in Port St. Lucie, Fla. They have been trying to sell their Pembroke home for a year, but have been unable to because of the slumping real estate market.

When an opportunity came up to rent the home instead, she decided to expedite her retirement.

“When you first start, you have no intention of working 29 years,” she said. “But I've enjoyed it.”