LEXINGTON — After 36 years with the City of Lexington, Jo Keim was honored for her retirement on Friday, May 9.
During the event, Community Service Director Tom Nelson highlighted Keim’s extraordinary dedication and contributions.
He delivered an emotional tribute to Keim during her retirement open house, emphasizing her 31-year service record with the municipal workforce.
Speaking to colleagues and well-wishers, Nelson struggled to articulate the depth of Keim’s contributions, acknowledging the challenge of comprehensively detailing her professional achievements.
“The 31 years and even the 36 years she’s worked for the city, she has done or accomplished in that time would take hours to read off,” Nelson said.
Some of Keim’s involvement both with the city and the Lexington community involves working as a lifeguard, providing over 300 cans of food and nonperishable items to the Lexington Food Pantry with the help of other community members, and taking part in the “9/11 Tenth Anniversary Tribute: A Celebration of American Freedom” play through the Plum Creek Community Theatre in 2011.
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Nelson characterized Keim as more than a colleague, describing her as having become “like family to all of us down there.” His speech was marked by a sense of profound respect and genuine appreciation for her long-standing dedication to municipal service.
“We expect every single one of these guys to think the same way,” Nelson said when addressing the crowd. He concluded his remarks by expressing the service building’s collective gratitude, telling Keim she will be deeply missed but remains “only a phone call away.”
Following Nelson’s comments, Keim delivered a nostalgic and humorous retirement speech, reflecting on 36 years of municipal service that began when she first started working at the city maintenance building in 1988.
“May 9 rolled around faster than I thought it would,” Keim said. “To be real honest, I’m not sure I’m ready for this.”
Keim opened her remarks with self-deprecating humor, joking about her retirement plans consisting of a simple routine: “from the bed to the couch to the fridge and repeat.” She candidly admitted uncertainty about retirement, saying she had worked consistently since age 13 and struggled to imagine a life without daily municipal responsibilities.
Tracing her professional journey, Keim described her initial workplace — the city maintenance building near Arbor Park — as far from luxurious. The original facility had only one bathroom shared by 20 men, a challenge that prompted her to rarely use the facilities during her six years there.
Keim’s speech was rich with workplace memories, including annual award banquets featuring entertainment like hypnotists, family feud games and memorable employee skits. She fondly recalled workplace traditions such as Thanksgiving dinners at the fire hall and Christmas Eve fried chicken lunches.
“When you work somewhere for many years with your co-workers, they do become like family,” Keim said. “They celebrate each other’s joys, new babies, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, graduations, weddings, retirements.”
When acknowledging friends and co-workers at the event, Keim gave thanks to everyone for being a second family. “The city of Lexington has been a great place to work,” Keim said.
