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Verlen Bills -
Sharon Barnes
The city is going to have some big shoes to fill come the end of the month. Two longtime employees, Verlen Bills and Sharon Barnes, are retiring.
Bills currently serves as city clerk, a position he was elected to in 2019. Prior to that, though, he served as a firefighter for 37 years and fire chief for about six more years.
Bills went to high school in Watonga, although he wound up graduating from Del City High School. He moved back to Watonga right after high school and has been here ever since. His wife, Cindy, had the Radio Shack store in town, where Verlen helped out when he wasn’t on call or at work. He started full time at the fire department in 1983.
Asked what makes someone seek a life in public service, Bills said it was all he had ever known.
“And looking back, I can’t imagine doing anything else,” he added.
He has many recollections from those years, some of them frightening even now.
“Maybe the scariest was being in the middle of a tank battery when it blew up around (us) northeast of town,” Bills recalled. At the time, he said he was scared, but was unaware how big the explosion and fire really were.
“When I saw the pictures later, then I was really scared,” he quipped. “You know, after the fact when you stop and think about it.” Bills plans on helping get his two grandchildren through college, and he and his wife are going to travel some, although Cindy is still working for Farm Bureau.
For Bills, he will miss the people he has worked with and served, but he is ready to slow down.
Sharon Barnes, who is also retiring Sept. 30, said much the same, that it is the patrons she will miss.
Barnes has been at the Watonga Public Library for 28 years. She walked into the library one day to find a book on making resumes. While there she asked if the library needed help and it did. So her career was launched.
Over the years, Barnes has become certified through the state library and its classes.
The biggest change, she said, was the advent of computers.
“It was such a big change, and now people read on their I-pads and phones, or tablets. There is so much on our website, jobs and education.
“I have really enjoyed the people coming in and helping people. I like being around the books. I’ll miss my coworkers,” she added.
Barnes intends to spend much of her time with her family. “It (family) will be No. 1, but I also enjoy volunteering and want to spend more time doing volunteer work.”
Bills summed it up this way. “It has all been gratifying, when you know you’ve helped someone. It’s routine to us, but it could be life changing to them.”
Barnes agreed, saying, “This has been a wonderful place to work.”
A retirement reception will be held from 2-4 p.m. Friday, Sept. 30 at the library, 301 Prouty Ave., Watonga.