Lucy Thompson spent more than 31 years plotting St. Paul’s future in community forums and drawing rooms alike.

The city’s principal city planner retired from the Planning and Economic Development Department a few weeks ago, around the same time the city council approved her final professional contribution — the St. Paul 2040 Comprehensive Plan.

The St. Paul Regional Labor Federation will have new leadership in the coming year as Bobby Kasper leaves the president’s seat, capping a decade in office.

The unofficial mayor of one of St. Paul’s westernmost neighborhoods has similar plans. Jon Schumacher, who did not seek re-election to the St. Paul School Board this fall, is training his replacement and stepping down after 20 years as executive director of the St. Anthony Park Community Foundation.

Chris Hilger, CEO and president of the Securian Financial Group, has stepped down from the board of the St. Paul and Minnesota Foundation, though he continues his role as co-chair of the St. Paul Downtown Alliance. Hilger joined the foundation board in 2011 and served as board chair in 2017 and 2018.

Those were among some of the most visible St. Paul civic leaders to retire from their positions toward the end of 2019. A number of public employees also called it a career.

“Even when I was in grad school, I always wanted to work in PED (St. Paul Planning and Economic Development),” said Thompson, who was impressed early on with the district council system and the city’s appreciation for its neighborhoods.

When she got her wish in 1988, “downtown was really in bad shape,” Thompson said. “I was the downtown and riverfront planner for 25 years … and we realized early on that the key to downtown was reconnecting it to the Mississippi River. People today may have their opinions of downtown, but back then, boy was it looking rough.”

Thompson worked closely with just one other city planner to debut the “St. Paul on the Mississippi Development Framework,” a key urban design visioning document that rolled out under then-Mayor Norm Coleman in 1997.

That planning helped lure the Science Museum of Minnesota to downtown St. Paul and set the stage for the museum’s river balcony stairway, Upper Landing, Wacouta Commons, ornamental paving and other downtown fixtures.

In latter years, the city developed more of a collaborative, interdepartmental approach that drew a number of planners and professionals from various departments together to prepare for the coming of the Green Line light-rail corridor.

Under Thompson, the allowable heights and densities for some 800 properties within the corridor were rezoned, opening the door for much of the development underway today along University Avenue to move forward.

Thompson, who called the 2040 Comprehensive Plan a “pinnacle” document capping her career, has volunteered to co-chair a national urban planning conference, the Congress for the New Urbanism, which will bring some 2,000 designers, developers and architects to downtown St. Paul from June 10-13.

In effect, she hasn’t retired from planning at all. “Some days it’s kind of a full-time job,” Thompson said. “It’s a big undertaking.”

FROM GOLF GREENS TO THE RECEPTION DESK

Schumacher, for his part, started out as an actor and video scriptwriter. His flexible schedule allowed him to pick up a half-time position running the St. Anthony Park Community Foundation, which was founded by banker and consummate neighborhood volunteer Andy Boss and other civic leaders in 1998.

During his 20 years there, the foundation awarded some $600,000 in grants, about two-thirds of which have gone to St. Anthony Park Elementary School, Murray Middle School, and other area schools.

He’ll spend early January training in his replacement, Alison Schaub.

“It will continue,” said Schumacher, who spent half his professional life as a neighborhood go-between, linking everyday residents, the district council, schools and nonprofits. “We have a board that will stay intact and assess needs in St. Anthony Park. … It was amazingly gratifying. It was fun to be able to connect with folks who are doing such good work and who are so passionate about the work they’re doing.”

Gary Korum has taken his leave of St. Paul twice before. The first time was to deploy for Operation Desert Storm, and the second was a four-month layoff due to budget cuts.

Other than that, Korum spent 38 continuous years in St. Paul Parks and Recreation, starting with 18 years with the Phalen Golf clubhouse and grounds crew, 11 years grooming cross-country trails and then a stint as park maintenance supervisor in 2001 “just in time for the major flood we had that spring,” Korum said in an email.

He soon became a Parks and Rec manager in Special Services, overseeing Golf, Aquatics, Special Events, Midway Stadium and the parks department’s role in Emergency Management. Korum, who has spent the past decade as the city’s Parks and Rec Operations Manager, called his most proud accomplishment “having the chance to manage and work with some of the best employees you could ask for as a manager.”

He retired from that role and from the city in December, eager to spend more time with his wife of 35 years and his grandchild.

Rick Cunningham retired in November after 45 years with Ramsey County. He was a financial worker and supervisor before spending more than 30 years overseeing employee training and organizational leadership development. He also enjoyed magic.

“Everyone loves him,” revenue worker Debbie Reiter said in an email. “He was a wedding singer, served as a lectern at church and is a magician. I know he is a magician as he came to our family home years ago and performed for several Hmong families new to the USA at Christmastime — the kids loved him. He is also a great listener and trustworthy — someone many of us have talked to throughout the years.”

Early 2019 saw the retirement of Ramsey County Elections Manager Joe Mansky, a former state elections director whose multiple claims to fame included introducing “I Voted” stickers statewide.

Donna Sanders served the city of St. Paul for 41½ years, including 22 years as an executive assistant in the Ward 5 City Council office. She got her start as a clerical worker in the St. Paul Police Department’s auto theft unit in 1978 and later spent 15 years in the department of Planning and Economic Development.

“There’s just a lot of good people that I’ve gotten to know over the years being a city employee, and I appreciate all the hard work they do on behalf of St. Paul citizens,” Sanders said.

Sanders’ father, Alan May, was a district fire chief with the city when he retired in 1985 after 38 years of service. Her sister Kathy Korff, a former clerical worker who retired as a Workforce Development employee, spent 43 years with the city and five years with Ramsey County. Another sister, Patty Banaszekski, worked in city building codes for nine years.

On Dec. 31, Terre Thomas wrapped up nearly seven years as executive director of Small Sums, a St. Paul nonprofit that outfits homeless workers with Metro Transit fare cards and the everyday tools and certifications they need to transition to gainful employment, such as no-slip kitchen shoes.

Longtime Frogtown residents Tony Schmitz and Patricia Ohmans have published the last issue of their neighborhood newspaper, “Greening Frogtown,” which was distributed just before the New Year. The couple, who launched the paper in 2015, have asked the publishers of the monthly Midway Monitor to increase their Frogtown coverage.