Photo submitted to Times Observer Earl Wilcox is retiring after 40 years with Youngsville Borough.

After 40 years working for the Youngsville Department of Public Works, Earl Wilcox was given a chance to celebrate his retirement with friends, family, and co-workers this week.

Wilcox will retire next Saturday as lead DPW foreman after a career with Youngsville Borough that spanned five decades.

Earl moved to Youngsville from the Cassadaga, N.Y. area in 1977. He took a job with the Youngsville DPW — but it wasn’t as lead foreman.

“I started out with the sanitation unit back in 1977,” Wilcox said. “I sort of worked my way up from there.”

Wilcox’s duties before becoming lead foreman including equipment operator and crew member.

“I’ve done a little of everything along the way,” he said.

As lead foreman, Wilcox’s duty, according to him, was to “oversee” DPW operations in the borough.

“What we did depended on the season,” he said. “Winter was mainly snow removal and dealing with frozen water lines. Fall was leaf removal. Spring was a lot of road maintenance. There were always some little, odd jobs mixed in, too.”

Wilcox estimated that he worked directly with “at least 50” different people during his time with the borough.

“At the beginning of my time here, there was quite a bit of turnover (with the staff), he said. “There hasn’t been much of that recently. The people I work with are great.”

When asked what his favorite memories from his DPW days are, Wilcox, who plans to stay in Youngsville after retiring, again mentioned his co-workers.

“I can’t pick one specific day or job,” he said. “What I’ll miss most are the people I worked with. The crew, the workers at the borough, the Youngsville police, the people of Youngsville. They are all great people and I’ll miss working with them.”