Shawnee County honors retirees and long-serving employees at Oct. 2 ceremony

The Shawnee County Board of County Commissioners on Oct. 2 recognized dozens of employees marking service anniversaries and several retirees, including employees with 20, 25, 33 and 35 years of service.

The event brought department heads and elected officials to the podium to highlight individual careers and the county’s reliance on long-serving staff. "Will's one of those employees that I have that started out as an intermediate collector 20 years ago... and now he's my fleet supervisor," said Bill Sutton, Shawnee County Solid Waste, as he introduced William Owens, who was honored for 20 years of service. "He's always the rock of calmness...so I just want to thank Will for all of the service."

Why it matters: Commissioners and department leaders said the honorees helped maintain core county services through staffing shortages and operational challenges, and officials framed the ceremony as a public acknowledgement of long-term institutional knowledge.

Details from departments: Brian Colshon of the Department of Corrections praised James Hockenbarger for a 20-year career that included work in booking, juvenile detention and as policy procedure coordinator. "This guy is just extremely smart...James has a tremendous future with the department of corrections," Colshon said.

Theresa Fisher, director of the Health Department, recognized Gloria Cabrera for 25 years of service, noting Cabrera’s work as a Healthy Start home visitor, a WIC office assistant and currently as a Spanish interpreter at the county’s Tenth Street clinic. "Gloria goes above and beyond to help both the clients and the staff," Fisher said.

Brian Hill of the Shawnee County Sheriff's Office introduced several honorees, including Lieutenant Emily Adams for 20 years and Sergeant Bradley Jones for 25 years. Hill also recognized Kaye (Kaylin) McCray for 35 years in emergency communications, saying she is the communications specialist the center turns to when situations escalate.

Parks and recreation superintendent Tim Laurent recognized Gentry May for 33 years of service and listed several county sites May helped maintain, including the Rose Garden at Gates Park and the Ward Meade Botanical Gardens. "What stands out most about Gentry is his dependability," Laurent said.

Retiree remarks and tone: Several speakers praised honorees for mentoring colleagues and steady performance rather than high-profile accomplishments. The ceremony included lighthearted anecdotes: one speaker recounted a raccoon-in-a-truck story about an early patrol of county grounds during an employee’s tenure.

Commission reaction and closing: Commissioners Aaron Mayes (chair, District 3), Bill Rippon (District 1) and Kevin Cook (District 2) thanked employees for their service during the ceremony. "Thank you to all of our employees, all our staff, and everything they do to make Shawnee County a better place," Mayes said. The event concluded before the meeting moved on to administrative business and executive session announcements.