"I didn't think I would be so emotional," said Liz Groff, wiping away a tear as she sat in her car Saturday morning, waiting for Funk's Farm Market to open one last time.

"I feel like I kind of grew up here. I first came here for ice cream when I was in college here."

Now 52, the Lancaster Township woman, like many in Lancaster County, found Funk's a touchstone they could count on for everything from fresh produce to unique baked goods to hardy flowers to beautify the home.

"I brought my kids here," continued Groff. "I came here when I wanted to get away. I used to come wander through the flowers."

And now it's gone. The sweet corn, cheese bread, Pumpkinland, corn mazes, cinnamon bake rolls, the plants, baked oatmeal and melt-a-way cookies.

After 48 years, encompassing 14 additions along the way, the local landmark on the edge of Millersville Borough is closed.

Saturday was a last business day for 130 employees and for patrons to say farewell.

They were greeted at precisely 9 a.m. by a clerk who told them to help themselves to all the plants. Hundreds of colorful annuals, perennials and ornamental grasses were hauled away during the day.

The white, one-story farm market building, next to the Funk homestead, opened May 16, 1963. It will now be torn down as the entrance road to a planned retirement community that will pass right through the site.

The Village at Funk's Farm, for residents 55 and older, would be built on the 66-acre farm owned by the Funk family for four generations.

In a key ruling, Manor Township's Zoning Hearing Board unanimously voted in May to grant current owner Fred Funk and partner John Hogan a special exception to build in the rural-agricultural-zoned land.

Funk, 65, started the current farm market after he graduated from high school. In 1976 he bought it from his father, famed farmland preservationist Amos Funk, who died Feb.14.

He said Saturday that he hopes to incorporate a new, smaller farm market into the development sometime in the future. It would have prepared food, a deli, small cafe and baked goods, he said.

The Funk family has sold milk and produce in some form on the farm for about 130 years.

On Saturday, Funk found himself being ushered outside by longtime customers to pose for a photo.

At other times, he priced shelving, equipment and other furnishings that were being sold off at discounted prices.

Among the items for sale was a loud blue upholstered chair used in one of the Pumpkinland displays in the 1990s.

Funk said the market's closing evoked mixed emotions.

He said he was proud of the store's reputation and friends made along the way. At the same time, running a small business with big-box stores and supermarkets as competition was a struggle, he said.

Being able to provide fresh pies baked the same day and sweet corn picked first thing in the morning used to be an amenity his competitors couldn't boast.

"But, unfortunately, the younger generations don't seem to be concerned as much about such things," he said.

"We had a lot of good years and it was fun," he said.

Later, a store employee would say, "It's run its course."

Some customers Saturday expressed sadness that the fertile ground associated with the father of Lancaster County's farmland preservation movement — Amos Funk — would be plowed up for a development. Others endorsed the project.

Amos Funk had said years ago that this tract, bordering the borough and served by public water and sewer, was the kind of land that should be earmarked for development to spare outlying areas.

His son said the retirement community would be a "model" and that his late father was excited about it.

"I want to be proud of what we do here," he said.

Pushing a shopping cart inside the store was 70-year-old Leah Painter, of Millersville. Years ago, for two summers, Painter worked in the gardening section, handing out advice to customers who would sometimes grab plants without aforethought.

"You need balance, I'd tell them," she said. "I'm going to really miss this place. They have so many wonderful things."

Going out the farm market doors for the last time was Kim Grosse, a Lancaster County native now living in Texas.

"It's sad to see it for the last time," she said.

The last day was bittersweet for employees, also.

"It's very hard. I love this job," said Carol Kasmer, 40, of Lancaster, baking her last batch of cookies. "It's scary, too, because I don't have a job lined up."

At the end of June, Fred Funk held a corn roast for employees current and past. About 60 showed up, some of them from the market's original work crew.

At the twin checkout counters on Saturday, some customers seemed almost lost, and asked employees where they were going to buy sweet corn and the specialty baked goods the store became known for.

One woman turned back as she exited the store.

"We'll miss you."

acrable@lnpnews.com