Photo by Rebecca Carr

Mukilteo Mayor Joe Marine presents executive assistant Shirley Engdahl with a clock to commemorate her 20 years with the City of Mukilteo. Marine joked that the clock includes a thermometer, as Engdahl doesn’t come in when the temperature is higher than 80 degrees.

Since 1990, Mukilteo has seen three mayors, three city administrators, three city halls, numerous councilmembers – and one executive assistant.

 

Shirley Engdahl marked 20 years with the City of Mukilteo this July, and colleagues past and present celebrated her anniversary with cake at City Hall last week.

 

In her tenure, Engdahl has seen the city’s population triple and traffic grow even more.

 

County Councilmember Brian Sullivan was Mukilteo’s mayor when she started her journey here, and former Mayor Don Doran was still cutting his teeth on the City Council.

 

“I hired Shirley, and she has become a great friend over the years,” Sullivan said. “I always listened to her opinions and views on issues.

 

“She never let me down, especially in tough times at the city.  

 

“It is hard to believe it is 20 years; I wish her the best.”

 

Back then, the entire Speedway was a two-lane road, the police station was in a former funeral home on the Precht property in Japanese Gulch, and the fire department was mostly volunteer-run.

 

“Shirley was the main liaison between council and staff when I first came on,” current Mayor Joe Marine said of running for City Council back in 1997.

 

“She always attended every council meeting and was always such a help to us all.”

 

The two work even more closely together now that Marine is mayor, he said.

 

“It’s been wonderful having such a steady presence, someone who knows everything or how to find it,” he said.

 

Twenty years in the same place is something of a record for Engdahl. An Air Force brat, she and her family lived all over Europe before her father retired and brought the family back to the U.S.

 

Engdahl grew up mostly in France, and graduated from an American high school in Germany.

 

Does she remember any of those languages?

 

“I do speak French still, although it’s a little rusty,” she said.

 

German? Not so much, although one important phrase sticks in her mind:

 

“I can order a bockwurst,” she laughed.

 

After Europe, it was Burns Flat, Oklahoma – talk about a culture shock!

 

Engdahl said she moved up here when her husband took a job at Beck’s Funeral Home.

 

“I’m glad we live in Washington now; it’s a wonderful place,” she said.

 

Before coming to Mukilteo, Engdahl worked a variety of municipal jobs, including in the cities of Anacortes and Lynnwood. All those decades in government have made her somewhat a connoisseur of council meetings.

 

“I used to just about fall asleep in the meetings in Anacortes,” she laughed. “These council meetings (in Mukilteo) are never boring, as you know.”

 

Engdahl did have an interesting job category in Anacortes: Parks, Recreation and Cemetery.

 

“I like the order – you park, you recreate, then you die, then we take care of you,” she laughed.

 

Engdahl said the hardest part of her job is saying goodbye to people she’s grown fond of over the years.

 

“New mayors, new councilmembers, once you get to know them, there’s turnover,” she said. “I hate saying goodbye to people; we had to do that all the time growing up.”

 

Engdahl said she’s been blessed over the years in that she’s liked nearly everyone she’s worked with.

 

“My mother taught me that nearly everyone has merit, that you just have to look for it,” she said. “I’ve found that to be true, and I’ve met some wonderful people over the years.”

 

The best part of her job is the people she meets, Engdahl said.

 

“I’ve made some wonderful friends over the years here; some of my best friends,” she said. “Another great thing about working in government is the diversity – you meet so many interesting people with different backgrounds.”

 

Her family has grown as well – Engdahl has three children and eight grandchildren, scattered among Washington, Michigan and Maryland, as well as two pugs and a border terrier (same breed as the Benji of movie fame).

 

Engdahl said her mother, at 92, still lives in Sedro-Woolley, and her two sisters are close by.

 

“They’re two of my best friends –not many people are lucky enough to be able to say that,” she said.

 

Engdahl said her off time is spent hiking all over the Pacific Northwest with her husband, reading and working in her garden. That’s probably where she’ll spend much of her retirement, she said.

 

“My husband and I both love gardening, and will continue to enjoy our garden for many years,” she said. “I’ll do it ‘til I kick off, and you can plant me where I land.”