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Property Manager Set To Retire After 12 Years

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By DEREK MAUL

Tribune correspondent

Published: December 10, 2008

On Dec. 31, Al Devney will retire from his job as property manager for Bloomingdale's Special Taxing District, where 12 years of hands-on work has put him on a first-name basis with thousands of residents.

"I've enjoyed this job very much," he said. "You meet a lot of awful nice people. People use the 4.2-mile Nature's Way loop from 5:30 a.m. till late at night, and I know most of the walkers and joggers and runners and bikers, plus their dogs and babies."

He also has become intimately acquainted with more than 13 miles of irrigation pipeline, more than 9,000 sprinkler heads, 14 miles of privacy walls and countless miles of electrical lines. And he's seen more bags of trash than anyone could imagine.

"I find some interesting stuff on my rounds," he said. "There's a minimum 30 large trash bags a month. Then, I've picked up toilets, lingerie, a stuffed deer head, a garrote, a check for $187,000, watches, cell phones, iPods, you name it."

Born in Painesville, Ohio, Devney attended high school at the Kentucky Military Institute in Lyndon, which has since closed. He went on to earn his business degree from Kent State University in Ohio in 1965.

"I spent 23 years in the Army as a commissioned officer, then retired out of MacDill Air Force Base as a lieutenant colonel," he said.

Devney traveled extensively, saw action as an infantry officer during two tours in Vietnam and was stationed in Germany, Hawaii, North Carolina, Virginia and Florida.

"I also served two years as the White House transportation officer with President Nixon," he said.

From 1985 to 1988, Devney was stationed at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, working as transportation staff planner. When time came to retire, the decision to stay in Brandon was not difficult.

"I had two kids in college and two kids in high school," he said. "Why leave?"

Married since 1965, he met the former Mary McHenry when they were both students at Kent State. The Devneys have two sons, Alan and Tom, two daughters, Ann and Kathleen, and "eight and two-thirds grandchildren.

"It's nice to quit while I'm still ahead," Devney said. "I'm moving on, on my terms."

Retirement will mean more time for hunting - he's a serious sportsman and enjoys golf, needlepoint, and cooking. "My wife and I like to cook," he said. "She's sending me to cooking class, plus she wants me to take some computer courses."

He said he'll miss the residents of Bloomingdale who befriended him, but he's proud of his accomplishments.

"We have a well-balanced landscape program, benches so people can sit down, we keep the place painted, we plan ahead and program four years ahead. We try to keep things safe and attractive," he said.

The future, Devney said, must include more solutions to water issues, a continuation of the native plantings program, ongoing collaboration with county extension agents and additional drought tolerant ground covers.

MEET AL DEVNEY

Owner, Devney Property Management Inc.

BORN: Painesville, Ohio, 1939

EDUCATION: Kentucky Military Institute, 1975; Kent State University, 1965.

MARRIED: Mary McHenry, 1965

CAREER: Officer, U.S. Army, 1965-1988

MOVED TO BRANDON: 1985

MEMBER: St. Stephen Catholic Church

CONSTANT COMPANION: Daisy, a 2-year-old schnauzer

CONTACT: (813) 431-6348

Derek Maul can be reached at derekmaul@gmail.com.

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