Stan Wilkes

There was another sign that I am full fledge adult, retirement pary. Yes I know I am forty-three years old with a grandchild, but realizing you are a middle aged man is difficult. Last night Carol and I went to the retirement party for one of my mentors, Stan Wilkes.

Stan is retiring from being the City Attorney for Dalworthington Gardens after 35 years. I met Stan the first day I came to work for little DWG in 1993. I was 26 years old, just fresh from 2 and half years at the City of Dallas. I thought I was prepared to be a small town City Administrator. I learned over the next nine and half years how incredibly naive I was on my first day at work, but stayed out of quite of bit of trouble and litigation through the wise advice from Stan.

Stan was a wealth of knowledge on City Government, have work at an Attorney for Fort Worth and at one time the City Attorney of Arlington. Although at times I tried his patience, he gave me an understanding of civil attorney that has served me well to this day. He has trained quite a few governmental administrators in his 50 years of being a lawyer. I was lucky to be one of them.

Last night he joked that he always panicked when I called. He knew by the time I called him, I had already answered all the other questions that were going to get us in trouble. Most of the time, it all worked out.

Dalworthington Gardens is going to miss Stan more than they realize. I and I hope one day when I retire, I have had the same impact on people entering my field.