By Bob Laylo and David Slade Of The Morning Call

After 23 years, Don Hartzell worked his last shift at J.E. Morgan Knitting Mills in Hometown and began retirement a few years earlier than he had planned.

That's because manufacturing operations at the factory near Tamaqua that once produced thermal underwear and kept thousands in work ended Friday.

Hartzell, who worked in the bleach department for 22 years, said it was a sad day because he had to say goodbye to long-time friends.

''It's like leaving your family,'' Hartzell said. ''You worked with these people eight hours a day, sometimes six or seven days a week. And now some of them you are never going to see again.''

Hartzell, 62, said work has been difficult ever since Sara Lee Corp. announced in November 2002 that it would close Morgan.

The late John E. Morgan, whose foundation provided millions for Lehigh Carbon Community College to open a branch in Tamaqua this year, opened his mill in the borough in 1945. In 1969, the company moved to Hometown. At one time, it employed 1,000 people.

But in the last few years, Sara Lee has slashed tens of thousands of jobs, and Morgan's was among them.

It has been phasing out production at Morgan ever since the November 2002 announcement.

''When we started the year in January, we had 573 people on board at the facility in Tamaqua,'' Sara Lee spokeswoman Peggy Carter said. ''At the end of November, we had 453.''

Carter said from Dec. 1 through Friday, 250 people have been laid off. Hartzell said several people have been leaving everyday.

Carter said maintenance workers will remain at the factory to dismantle equipment that will be shipped to Sara Lee factories in Winston-Salem and Ashboro, N.C.

The work from Morgan was originally supposed to be shipped over overseas, but lack of demand led the company to send it to North Carolina instead, Carter said.

She said the company could not do the reverse and send work from North Carolina to Hometown because of its setup.

''Because Tamaqua was set up for seasonal, thermal products, it was more difficult to send other types of work there,'' Carter said.

Although the company has ended manufacturing, it is keeping a warehouse open in Hometown that employs about 200 people, Carter said.

''The folks who leave the textile operation will also have priority for jobs that become available at the distribution center,'' she said.

She said programs the company offered employees, such as tuition reimbursement and job training, will continue until June.

Bob Green of the state Department of Labor and Industry's Rapid Response Team for Morgan said many workers applied for benefits through a federal Trade Act Program that helps people who lose their jobs because of foreign competition. He said others have applied for and obtained jobs.

''The people in the latest group, I know some of them have jobs lined up,'' Green said.

And others, like Hartzell, are simply calling it a career, Green said.

''I'm one of the lucky ones who happened to be in the age range and didn't have to look for another job,'' Hartzell said.

robert.laylo@mcall.com

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