AMBOY — A 20 year career as the City of Amboy’s Public Works Director came to an end on May 31.

Al Stenzel retired as Amboy’s Public Works Director on May 31. He was hired in the position, a little more than 20 years ago, on May 1, 1999. 

Before coming to the city, Stenzel had previously worked in the livestock industry for more than 20 years. He said that the livestock industry had started to change, smaller farms were starting to not exist, and he had an opportunity to make the change and work for the city and he took it.

Looking back at his career with the city, he said he needed to thank Darlene Hinkle, who was city clerk at the time he was hired, who helped him immensely and was very instrumental with what he needed to know to do his new job.

He added that the girls at city hall know a lot about what is going on in the city.

Over the course of the 20 years, Stenzel worked for six different mayors.

One special memory he has is that his two sons used to go out with him and help pick up debris from storms.

With retirement here, Stenzel plans to help his wife with their insurance business, Stenzel Insurance, do odd jobs on the side and find out what it means to be retired.

He said that he has been on call for most of his life, not only from working with the city, but also serving on the fire department for 30 years. 

Stenzel thanked his wife because every call, she was up with him and handled the additional calls when he was gone.