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By Ted Troupis

Jim Kilday, a physical plant employee since 1972, will retire on Aug. 31, 2001. He started at the college as a custodian in building C, which had just opened, and after seven years, he moved to maintenance.

Specializing in carpentry and wood working, he is proud of the role he played in the construction of Senior Center and Project NOA, both on the east campus. He also played a major part in the building of a room addition for the library as well as the Macintosh computer laboratory in the basement of building B.

"The way today’s technology is constantly changing, with new building materials, products, and new ways to improve the college facilities, my job here has been a very rewarding and challenging experience," Kilday said. "Sometimes even part-time student maintenance workers have taught me different and better ways to do my job."

Kilday also helped maintain the college grounds, arriving in the early morning hours to plow snow out of the parking lots.

A Viet Nam veteran, Kilday served as an Army Medic and received the Bronze Star. When he returned to the U.S. he worked at Sunstrand, and after a few months, left that job for IVCC.

While working at the college, Kilday also attended classes. He has an associate degree from IVCC and has completed special classes on facilities management.

Kilday lives in Oglesby with his wife Carol. His daughter, Amy Sheppard, is a grade school teacher in Ottawa and his son, Brian, is a sales representative in Romeoville.

Kilday plans to help his daughter by babysitting for his new granddaughter and continue to work in carpentry and construction with his brother. He also has plans to build a bigger workshop for some recently acquired power tools.

His advice to co-workers is: "Do the best you can and the rest will take care of itself. Helping other people is what it’s all about.