Eric Pethtel’s history with the municipality of Fishers goes back a long way, 34 years to be exact.  He has led the Fishers City Department of Public Works (DPW) for entire ten years Scott Fadness has been mayor of this city.

When Mayor Fadness opened his State of the City address Wednesday, the first item on the agenda was the announcement that Eric Pethtel is retiring.  He has battled cancer for the past few years, and spoke openly about it last year in a podcast with the mayor and myself (listen at this link).

Eric was unable to attend the mayor’s speech because of cancer treatments, but Fadness recounted a recent conversation with his DPW Director as Pethtel pondered retirement.  Pethtel’s biggest concern, according to the mayor, was that people would forget his long service to this community once he is out of the spotlight.

Scott Fadness decided to take care of that concern.  The mayor announced that the Fishers City Public Works Complex will be named the Eric B. Pethtel Public Works Complex to honor his long history of service to Fishers.

The announcement drew spirited applause from the crowd attending the Chamber of Commerce luncheon.  It is a deserved honor to Eric Pethtel for his long devotion to creating Fishers as a special place to live.  I wish Eric all the best in his battle with cancer.