Ferndale

Ferndale officials honor longtime employee on her retirement

By Jeremy Selweski
C & G Staff Writer

» Click on image to view full size « Photo by Deb Jacques The city of Ferndale held a retirement party on Jan. 26 for Shirley Ahlgrim, who served for more than 25 years as administrative assistant to the city manager. Before coming to Ferndale, Ahlgrim also spent 25 years working for the city of Hazel Park. Photo by Deb Jacques The city of Ferndale held a retirement party on Jan. 26 for Shirley Ahlgrim, who served for more than 25 years as administrative assistant to the city manager. Before coming to Ferndale, Ahlgrim also spent 25 years working for the city of Hazel Park. Photo by Deb Jacques Photo by Deb Jacques|Other retired Ferndale employees visited Ahlgrim at her party, including, from left, Carole Bookmiller, Joyce Littlejohn, Isabelle Simon, Pat Wilson and Valerie Kitchen. Together, they served the city for over 153 years. Photo by Deb Jacques Other retired Ferndale employees visited Ahlgrim at her party, including, from left, Carole Bookmiller, Joyce Littlejohn, Isabelle Simon, Pat Wilson and Valerie Kitchen. Together, they served the city for over 153 years.

FERNDALE — Contributing 25 years of public service is a worthy accomplishment for any city employee, but Shirley Ahlgrim is one of a select few who reached that milestone with two different communities.

Ahlgrim, 67, retired on Jan. 31 after a long and distinguished career as administrative assistant to the city manager in Ferndale. But before coming to work at Ferndale City Hall, she had already served a quarter-century in various roles for the city of Hazel Park. A big reason for Ahlgrim’s longevity is that she had a very early start to her municipal career, which began at age 17.

“I graduated from high school on a Thursday and then started working (for Hazel Park) the following Monday,” she recalled. “I never thought that it would lead me on the path to the next 50 years of my life, but it did, and I couldn’t be happier about that. I’ve been here for so long now as a fixture of the community. It’s been a great run — it really has.”

Ahlgrim began her career in public service in 1962 at Hazel Park’s Urban Renewal Office. She was quickly promoted to the Recreation Department, where she worked for 11 years as secretary to Recreation and Forestry Director Dan Potter. When Potter was promoted to city manager, Ahlgrim joined him at his new office, where she served as his executive assistant for the next 12 years.

In 1986, Ferndale City Manager Jess Soltess asked Ahlgrim to retire from Hazel Park for a new career as his assistant. She agreed and began working at Ferndale City Hall on July 14, just weeks before her marriage to longtime Ferndale resident Bob Ahlgrim. Since that time, she served under seven different city managers, using her vast knowledge of all things Ferndale to provide strong assistance, guidance, direction and experience to a bevy of officials.

Former Ferndale City Manager and current Birmingham City Manager Bob Bruner worked with Ahlgrim for four years during his tenure with the city. He was sad to see her go, but wished her well in the next phase of her life.

“I don’t think I’ve ever met a more highly committed and devoted public employee in all the cities that I’ve worked for,” Bruner said. “She’s really one of a kind. I hope that she enjoys her retirement years as much as she enjoyed serving the people of Ferndale and Hazel Park for all these years.”

Current Ferndale officials also went out of their way to recognize Ahlgrim’s contributions to the city. On Jan. 26, they held a retirement party for her at City Hall, three days after the City Council had passed a resolution in her honor. At that meeting, members of council took time to thank her individually.

“We’ve talked probably two or three times a week, every single week since my first election,” said Councilman Mike Lennon. “If I needed something, it was 1-800-SHIRLEY. (You were) the to go-to person for me, and I’m going to miss you, Shirley. I really am.”

Added Councilman Scott Galloway, the longest-serving member of council, “I’ve always been very impressed with your professionalism, Shirley. … Thank you so much for all your service. You’ve made my 10 years here a lot more pleasant than they would have been otherwise.”

Councilwoman Melanie Piana referred to Ahlgrim as “the walking encyclopedia of city history. If you want to know who did it, where it was or how it was done, you call Shirley,” she said. “That is really going to be missed.”

For Piana and Councilman Dan Martin, Ahlgrim’s service to Ferndale extended far beyond the walls of City Hall. Martin noted that when he joined the Ferndale Community Foundation five years ago, the first thing he was told was to contact Ahlgrim if he needed help with anything.

“It’s not just what you’ve done for the city,” he said, “but also what you’ve done for the nonprofits and all the folks involved in the community. On behalf of all of them, we just can’t thank you enough. We wouldn’t have been able to function without you.”

Ahlgrim was originally one of 18 Ferndale employees who opted to leave the city in April 2010 as part of its voluntary separation incentive program. The cutbacks were made as Ferndale officials sought solutions to erase the city’s $3.1 million projected budget deficit at the time. However, Ahlgrim ultimately decided to stay on board for a couple of more years during a difficult transition period for the city that involved stabilizing the budget, finding a new city manager, negotiating union contracts, passing a millage increase and reorganizing several positions at City Hall.

According to City Manager April McGrath, following Ahlgrim’s departure, there will no longer be a full-time secretary in the city manager’s office. Instead, two new employees — human resources generalist Jennifer Longthorne and project and grant coordinator Joseph Gacioch — will help fill that void, along with a host of other roles.

On the day of her retirement party, Ahlgrim said that more than anything else, she was going to miss her daily interactions with Ferndale residents and city staff. She shared stories of residents who have gone out of their way to show their appreciation for her, including a man who would regularly bring her roses from his garden and a woman who would bring her homemade cookies and bread every Christmas.

“This is going to be a difficult transition for me,” Ahlgrim said, “but I’m sure I’ll get used to it. Life goes on.” She added said that she was feeling “overwhelmed” by all the support and affection that she had received in the days leading up to her retirement.

“It just makes you feel so good,” she explained. “It makes you feel like an important person and not just the lady behind the front desk. We’ve come such a long way as a city, and I’ve been so glad to be a part of it.”

You can reach C & G Staff Writer Jeremy Selweski at jSelweski@candgnews.com or at (586)218-5004.