The end of the work zone: Sullivan retires after 26 years of working for the City of Waverly

Sullivan chose that career because of his love for the outdoors, he said.

“The whole idea was that when I was younger, I watched guys in public services work on roads and plow roads,” said Sullivan. “I liked being outdoors, and that’s where most of the work in this career is at.”

Sullivan oversaw street maintenance and reconstruction as well as the seal coat program, pothole repair, and crack sealing. He was also in charge of snow removal, line striping, curb painting, school crossing signs, dry run walk bridges and special collection weeks.

Sullivan’s list of responsibilities goes on to add fall leaf collection, ditch cleaning, mowing street sweeping, road grading, alley maintenance, street signs street sign maintenance and replacement, emergency response to flash flooding and storm damage cleanup and parking lot maintenance.

On the exciting day of his retirement, Sullivan gave out hugs and shook hands with all who came to congratulate him on 44 years of work in public services.

With his wife, Jolene, and son John helping serve cake, Sullivan beamed amid the green and yellow tablecloths and balloons that decorated the room.

The green represented Sullivan’s Irish heritage, and the yellow added a colorful accent. The planners thought he was a Packer fan, so the green and yellow would replicate the team’s colors. However, in a humorous twist, it turns out Sullivan is indeed a Vikings fan, so purple and yellow would have been more fitting.

During the party, the smile on Sullivan’s face never dimmed and reflected his thoughts of what he was looking forward to doing most with his free time from this day forward— spending time with his family.

“Over the years the job has taken me away from my family,” said Sullivan. “In the off hours dealing with floods and snowstorms, a lot of time has been taken away from my family.”

As the party continued, the gifts kept coming. Some of the first gifts to grace the table were multiple candy bars and a six pack of his favorite beer, Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy.

“I have a man shed decked out in Leinenkugel’s stuff,” he said. “As for the candy bars, there was a basket of treats always in the office for people to come take, and I always took one, so people in the office got me candy bars and treats to help tide me over.”

Sullivan says he is looking forward to just relaxing on the weekends and not having worry about the phone ringing when bad weather comes.

To the people of Waverly, who Sullivan has been serving for 26 years, he would like to say thank you.

“I would like to say thank you,” said Sullivan. “For your support over the years. I have enjoyed working for you and always trying to do the best that I can. I was born and raised here so it meant a lot to me to be able to give back.”

Among his gifts was a token present, a sign with the words “end work zone Brian Sullivan 1996-2022.” It was a gift his crew of guys had custom made for him.

“It’s the end of the work zone,” he said. “It’s going in my man shed in my house.”