Editor’s Note: The following story is the first of a two-part series on local officials who are retiring at the end of this term of office. Chief of Police “Pap” Henderson will be featured in the next installment.

     When Monday, July 1, rolls around, Les Bumgarner will be without a job for the first time in 55 years.

     Bumgarner, 66, who retires as Brookhaven mayor as of midnight Sunday, has been working since he got his first job delivering newspapers on his bike at age 11.

     Elected to the mayor’s office in 2009, Bumgarner had been planning to seek another term, but then everything changed.

     “I had my paperwork all done,” he said in an interview this week. He’d even started getting signatures on his filing petition. Then on Dec. 27, his son, Brad Bumgarner of Madison, was seriously injured in a car accident on Highway 84 while traveling to Orange Beach for a family vacation.

     Bumgarner, who was driving to Orange Beach in another vehicle, turned around as soon as he got the call and headed back to Lucedale, where the accident had occurred.

     Fortunately, Brad has now recovered, the mayor said. “But when something like that hits, it really puts things in perspective,” he explained.

     So the mayor decided to put the re-election paperwork aside in January and announced he would not run again. And as of Monday, he will join his wife Katherine in retirement.

     “After serving 16 years on the recreation department board, 10 years on the school board and 12 years in city government, I think I made just about everybody mad,” Bumgarner said with a grin. “It’s time to retire.”

     Prior to his stint as mayor, Bumgarner served two terms as alderman at large.

     He looks back on a lengthy list of completed projects and accomplishments during his time at the city helm. Chief on his list are “getting four new industries for Brookhaven and bringing the fire department to an extremely high level” with a new pumper truck and training facility.

     Another source of particular pride is the city’s curbside recycling program.

     When asked what advice he would give incoming Mayor Joe Cox, Bumgarner paused and then said, “The key to dealing with the public is not necessarily getting them to agree with what you are doing, but to get them to understand what you are doing.”

     Directing his comments to his colleagues and to the citizens of the city, Bumgarner said, “I treasure the wonderful friends I have made among you and those I have made from the opportunities I have had while working with the leaders of Brookhaven.

     “You have blessed me and my family in so many ways. Now it is I who wish each of you God’s greatest blessings and continued success for Brookhaven,” he continued.

     Prior to entering government service, Bumgarner was the owner of the Locker Room, a downtown store, for 30 years. Before that, he was a coach and teacher for 11 years.

     “I’ve never been unemployed,” he said.

     So, what’s first on his agenda upon retirement? “Starting Monday, a trip to Calico Rock, Ark., on the White River for a family reunion. Then he plans to tackle remodeling the bathrooms in his house.

     While traveling, playing golf and fishing also figure into Bumgarner’s retirement plans, his priority, he said, will be “doing whatever Katherine tells me to.”