After 28 years working for the city of DeKalb, Director of Public Works Ralph Tompkins will retire in December.

Tompkins began in the engineering and planning department and worked his way up to director of public works in 1997 when several departments merged.

John Conlin, who retired as assistant director of public works last June, said one of the first major projects Tompkins worked on was the improvement of West Lincoln Highway from two lanes to four.

“That was a major undertaking,” Conlin said. “He was very instrumental in getting all that done.”

As director of public works, Tompkins oversaw the engineering and planning, water, street, airport and information and technology divisions of the city.

“There’s very little that’s happened in DeKalb in the last 20 years that Ralph wouldn’t have his fingerprints on,” Conlin said.

During Tompkins’ tenure, Sycamore Road was transformed from a quiet link between Sycamore and DeKalb into the retail district it is now, Conlin said.

Tompkins also pushed for the improvement of DeKalb Taylor Municipal Airport and its runway.

“Expansion of the airport over the last 28 years has been a tremendous challenge and reward,” Tompkins said.

Tompkins said he will miss working with the city and the people of his department.

“It’s really been a pleasure to work with everyone,” Tompkins said.

Tompkins pushed hard for the city to build a new garage facility for public works, Conlin said. Without Tompkins’ support, he said, the project never would have happened.

Tompkins, 56, is retiring under the same program as City Manager Jim Connors. The program gives both men five years of service credit and five years added to his age. Connors will retire Jan. 30, but not before appointing an acting director of public works from within the department.

Shrinking revenues forced the city to leave the permanent position out of the budget until July 1. The acting director will fill the position until then, Tompkins said.

Tompkins worked closely with his staff and prepared them for his retirement, Connors said. The staff will still miss Tompkins and his wealth of information, he said.

Connors said he may name an acting director as soon as this week to work with Tompkins before he leaves around Dec. 19.

“The city of DeKalb will certainly be hard-pressed to find someone to replace him,” Conlin said.

Tompkins will retire officially Dec. 31, but may use his vacation time for the last few weeks of the year.

Tompkins said he does not yet know what he will do to occupy himself during retirement, but starting a new job is a possibility, he said.