Joe Longo retires from township Department of Public Works.
By:Lea Kahn Staff Writer
When Joe Longo showed up for his first day of work as a laborer in the township Parks Department in 1970, the equipment he was supposed to use to maintain the township’s parks consisted of a lawn mower, a tractor and a pickup truck.
Today, the Lawrence Township Department of Public Works has dozens of riding lawn mowers, front-end loaders, pickup trucks, dump trucks, gasoline-powered weed trimmers and leaf blowers and "every tool imaginable to do the job," Mr. Longo said.
"I used to trim the grass along the curb with a pair of scissors," said Mr. Longo, who rose through the ranks to become the assistant director of Public Works. "We used rakes and brooms for the leaves. We have come quite a ways."
But the 56-year-old Rolfe Avenue resident is leaving all of that behind him. Mr. Longo has retired after a 36-year career in the Department of Public Works. His last day of work was Friday.
Deciding to retire was not easy, he said, adding that he grew up with a handful of the 30-plus DPW employees.
"It was tough for me to decide to retire, but I just think it was my time," he said. "I’ll miss the guys."
Mr. Longo was born in Italy, but moved to the Eldridge Park neighborhood with his family when he was 5 years old. He graduated from Lawrence High School in 1968, he said, adding that his class was the first one to graduate from the new high school.
Mr. Longo earned an associate degree in architectural design from Mercer County Community College, but as a married man with a child on the way, he decided to go to work rather than continue in school. He had already worked for two summers for the Parks Department, so it felt natural to seek a permanent, full-time job there, he added.
He went to work as a laborer, but soon he began his ascent through the ranks. He was a foreman, a supervisor, a superintendent and eventually the assistant director of Public Works. The Parks Department merged with the Department of Public Works in the 1980s, he said.
The Department of Public Works is responsible for maintaining the township’s parks, buildings and streets, he said. The crews collect leaves in the fall and plow the snow in the winter. They also maintain the township-owned buildings.
"The town has grown unbelievably," Mr. Longo said. When he began work, the township’s parkland consisted of Central Park, Veterans Park and Colonial Lake Park. Today, the crews maintain those parks, plus Village Park and many smaller pocket parks scattered throughout the township.
The only publicly maintained building was the Municipal Building. Today, the crews take care of the Municipal Building, the Police Department and Municipal Court building, the Lawrence Senior Center and the Lawrence Neighborhood Service Center, he said.
"There is more responsibility," he said. "People don’t realize what is involved. You have to put your priorities together. You have to keep the buildings in shape, make sure the equipment is operating and that the guys do the work. You have to meet the needs of the public."
Looking back, Mr. Longo said he never expected to make the Department of Public Works his life’s work. About two years after he joined the department, he was offered a job at the Princeton Plasma Physics Lab. He worked at PPPL for two weeks and then decided he preferred working for the township.
"I like working out of doors," Mr. Longo said. "I like dealing with the recreational functions. I think preparing the athletic fields (in the township-owned parks) is the best part of the job. I like to watch the children play sports."
"I feel proud to see events come up and know that I was a part of setting up for them," Mr. Longo said, referring to the effort involved in barricading streets for the Memorial Day parade and setting up booths at Village Park for Community Day, for example.
Mr. Longo praised the Department of Public Works crews, noting that whenever he gave them an assignment, "they came through with flying colors." The crews always made him look good, he said.
"I’m going to miss this job," he said. "It’s just the everyday excitement and all that goes on. You get into a routine and then it just stops (when you retire). You just have to get used to it."
On the other hand, Mr. Longo said, he’ll have more time to spend with his wife, Laura, and their four grandchildren and, of course, more time to pursue his hobbies of gardening and fishing.

