Another retiree on the call reported that her friend successfully had the ice maker in her refrigerator cleaned out by a Sears repairman, whom she noted was “very precise, very courteous.”

The retirees’ pensions are expected to survive the bankruptcy largely intact thanks to a backstop from the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. But if Sears goes into a liquidation, which many analysts and investors say is likely, then the retirees would lose most of their life insurance benefits.

In the current incarnation of Sears, recruiting new members to the alumni groups has been difficult. Two decades ago, there were 250 clubs, now there are only about 45. More recent retirees, who did not receive pensions or profit-sharing, do not share the same allegiance as older generations.

“Sears was a great company,” said Ron Olbrysh, who retired from the Sears legal department in the 1990s and is now chairman of the national retiree association “But I am glad we got out when we did.”

Age is another challenge. The Atlanta club regularly updates its 160 members with a “bereavement report” listing local retirees who have died.

As the luncheon in Decatur finished, Lynn Walker Capland lingered in the church hall, helping clean off the tables and talking with friends. Ms. Capland, 66, is not only a former employee, she is what she calls a “byproduct of Sears.” Her mother and father met while working at the Christmas pickup window in the Atlanta store.

Ms. Walker left the company before reaching retirement age because she said she wasn’t suited for her final job in the collections department. But she still takes a day off from current work at an accounting firm to attend the luncheon every year.

“No one makes time for these types of things anymore. Everyone is so busy,” she said. “This way of life is almost gone.”