Monte Rohman, Truman’s long-time city clerk, is just finishing up his 36th year. He will retire at the end of this year after a satisfying career.

“I started Feb. 1 of 1983,” he recalled.

Rohman, who is originally from Trimont, graduated from high school there and then met his wife, Shirley, a native a Truman. The two got married and settled down in Truman.

“I worked at the grocery store here for about five years while I was going to school, and then I got my college degree and went to work for Roessler Nuss & Company PA in Fairmont as a CPA for about three years before I took this job,” he said.

Rohman went to a business school in Mankato that was, at the time, called Mankato Commercial College. He obtained his accounting degree. He said it was helpful in his job while drafting the city’s budget and keeping track of its finances.

“I was always interested in city affairs and it worked out really well,” he said. “I was grateful to get the job. I’ve taken great pride in monitoring the city’s finances and allowing the city to have a very high bond rating.”

Rohman has worked under five different mayors and many different city councils.

“I’ve enjoyed working with all of them,” he said. “The city councils have been good to me.”

Rohman has just one regular council meeting left, on the 17th of this month.

“I’ve calculated I think I’ve been to something like 850 City Council meetings,” he noted. “Every first and third Monday of the month for 36 years. That’s a good two and a half years.”

“We’ve accomplished a lot,” he said. “A lot of large infrastructure projects and some street projects. It’s ongoing but I’ve been blessed to help the city obtain some grant dollars to help pay for those projects and I take a lot of pride in my grant work, too.”

Over the years, Rohman has seen the economy in rural Minnesota change. He said the retail side of Truman has probably changed the most, but the service businesses in Truman including plumbing, electrical and construction are still doing really well.

“We always try to retain what businesses we have and try to add when we can,” he said. “It’s a great community to live in and we’re fortunate to have our K-12 public school; it’s been a real pride for our community. We also have some great recreational facilities with our outdoor pool and some other organizations. We provide a lot of activities for our youth.”

Rohman is looking forward to retirement. His wife also will be retiring from her job as administrative assistant at Truman Public School at the end of January. The two have been married for 43 years.

“We’re going to stay in Truman,” Rohman said. “We like living here and think Martin County has a lot to offer. It’s home for us.”

The couple has 10 grandchildren and would like to spend more time attending their events. Both their parents also live in the area, so they want to be able to help them out when they can.

“We have other hobbies so we’ll stay busy. We’d like to do some traveling too,” Rohman said.

With just a few weeks left, Rohman is aware his remaining time as city administrator will go by quickly. He has made it known to the new city administrator, Bethanie Ekstrom, that he will be available to answer any questions that come up. Rohman has been working to train Ekstrom since she started with the city in July.

Still, Rohman plans to go into work on Dec. 31 to put in one more work day.

“I want to lock that door at 5 p.m. just one final time,” he said, joking about then walking off into the sunset.

Rohman is thankful to the city for allowing him to have a happy and successful career.

“Truman has been really good to me,” he said. “It truly is a great place to call home and I’m not leaving so I’ll be around the community. I really want to thank the community for allowing me to work here.”