Garrettsville Water Superintendent Jeff Sheehan has always enjoyed the daily routine associated with his job. It will an adjustment for him when he temporarily steps down from being the Water Superintendent for two months at the beginning of the New Year.
“I have been asked about what I will do in retirement a lot and I really don’t have a great answer,” Sheehan told The Weekly Villager of his brief retirement plans. “Many years ago, when my father retired, I was worried about him. I’m sitting here thinking now I am my Dad. What am I going to do? My wife would travel all of the time. She is already retired. I would love to fill my calendar with trips and we will go see our grandchildren and spend some time with them during those two months but I do not have any plans.”
By working as a municipal government employee for 43 years, and taking a hiatus from work for at least two months, Sheehan, 63, will be eligible to collect his monthly pension through the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System.
For 35 years, Sheehan has overseen the operations of the Garrettsville Water/Sewer Department and ensured that the operations met the state requirements to obtain and retain permits from the Environmental Protection Agency.
After two months of Sheehan’s temporary retirement, he will return to his position as the Water Superintendent at the same salary and plans on working for a few more years to help the Garrettsville Water/Sewer Department through a water main project next summer. When he returns to work, the Village will no longer be required to contribute to OPERS on his behalf.
In addition, Sheehan said he would also like to train some of the new employees so they can get fully licensed and take over for him once he permanently retires.
“I’ve had multiple job offers in the last couple of years with people waiting for me to retire but I prefer to work here,” Sheehan added. “I have a nice office here. I know the staff, know the bosses, the clientele and I know it is a comfortable setting for me. It is time to move along, and I think I will do that in the next couple of years.”
A Garrettsville native, Sheehan originally pursued a career in education when he attended Kent State University but took on some part-time work with the Village to help pay for school.
Garrettsville’s then-Water Superintendent hired Sheehan to mow lawns at the Sewer Plant in the summer. His family had a relationship with his predecessor because his parents lived right behind Sheehan’s family.
According to Sheehan, his brother was originally hired to mow lawns but could not find the time because he played for the football team, so the Water Superintendent offered the job to him. Sheehan impressed so much that he was then hired as a meter reader during the fall.
After his first two years at KSU, Sheehan decided to drop out and looked for full-time work.
“I realized I’d have to borrow money to continue in college,” he noted. “I said no I think I’ll go work and earn money. I really did not care for borrowing money.”
He was hired part-time at the Water/Sewer Department and worked part-time as an unlicensed operator and laborer, so he continued mowing lawns and being a meter reader while taking classes to become certified.
He earned his first license in 1983 and became an operator and was promoted to the role of Assistant Water Superintendent a year later and was eventually made the Water Superintendent in 1989.
“Most people just expect when they turn their spicket on that water is going to come on or when they flush their toilet it will go down,” Sheehan added. “Most people do not care what goes on behind it, but it is a vital service. It is easy to take for granted when there is no interruption in this service. It is a utility that I thought was useful. I got interested in the field as I was taking the classes and the operations behind it.”
Sheehan acknowledged that he did not foresee himself staying in the community he grew up in, but everything came full circle when he decided to leave school. He soon met his wife and they started raising their family in Garrettsville.
For now, Sheehan and his wife, Cindy, will celebrate the New Year with a brief vacation. After working as a Garrettsville employee for 43 years, Sheehan could use some time off.
Sheehan is unsure of what he will do with himself once fully retired, but this break may serve as a glimpse into the future of what his full-time retirement plans will be.
