By Patricia A. Scheyer
NKyTribune reporter
The city of Taylor Mill will be losing one of its greatest assets as of December 1. Public Works Director, Marc Roden, has decided to retire, which, after working for 43 years, he richly deserves to do.
Roden was born in Covington, but moved to Ohio, and only moved back much later when he met his wife Joanie, to whom he has been married for 42 years. Together they have a son and a daughter and a two year old grandson, Christopher.
Roden worked for 23 years at the Kenton County Road Department, and moved over to the City of Taylor Mill in 2004, where he became the Director of Public Works.
With his department of three workers, colleagues he enticed from the County, they take care of maintaining roads, clearing snow and ice, blacktopping some of the streets, taking care of the park, and anything else that needs doing outside.
“I love to be outside,” Rodan said. “I love working with the blacktopping and the snow removal. I take a lot of pride in what I do. Sometimes I like to go around and check on the jobs I have done, like the little bridge I built at Stewart and Marshall, or the road on Mary Laidley by the Animal Shelter. Just to see how they are holding up.”
It has been said that if a person loves what he or she does for a living, it ceases to be a job and becomes a place where they want to be. That has been the case for Marc Roden. He really likes what he does.
But life has a way of nudging people in different directions. Recently, three of Roden’s friends have passed away, and they were around his age.
Then, last February, after returning home from attending the Super Bowl, he was suddenly hospitalized with a severe reaction to a medication he was on. Once in the hospital, they discovered he also had COVID.
“I went in on a Friday and woke up on Tuesday,” he said. “They said I almost died. It started me thinking.”
Roden is an avid Bengals fan. He has season tickets, has had them for the last 35 years, in the first row in the end zone, and he somehow acquired superbowl tickets for the Bengals’ game in California at the end of the season last year.
“You just have to know people,” he said and smiled. “But I never bet on them, to win or lose. They are my team, win or lose.”
When Roden announced his retirement, the announcement was not without tears.
“This is hard,” he said, his voice breaking. “I hate leaving. But I need to. I’ve been doing this for 43 years. I want to thank you people for allowing me to serve you.”
He said what he will miss the most about leaving is the people in the city.
Roden said he has a lot of work to do around his house, things he will now have time to tackle. At this time, he said he hasn’t ruled out working parttime somewhere, although he wants to settle into retirement and see how he feels.
Commissioners had farewells, even though he will be literally on the job until the end of November. Commissioner Kuehne asked to have a letter of commendation drawn up to thank Roden.
“I was the mayor when we hired you, you came from the county,” Commissioner Mark Kreimborg spoke directly to Rodan. “You have served the city so well, I hate to see you leave. You’ve done such a wonderful job. You have so much knowledge of the city, and we’re going to have an incredibly hard time replacing you. I wish you all the best in your retirement, and this city’s going to miss you.”
Dan Murray spoke up and said he hopes the Bengals win the Super Bowl.
“Marc has been a fixture of the Taylor Mill public Works department for nearly 20 years,” said CAO Brian Haney. “His knowledge on public works is surpassed only by his knowledge and love of the Bengals. The staff and I wish him the absolute best in his retirement. Now he can spend more time with his grandson, and teach him to be as loyal a fan as his grandpa.”
Mayor Daniel Bell also had words of praise.
“Marc has been a valued employee as Director of The Taylor Mill Public Works Department,” Bell said. “His work ethic and overall knowledge of public works road projects will be missed. We wish Marc the very best in his retirement which I know will spent supporting his beloved Cincinnati Bengals. Thank you Marc, for your service.”