The longest serving police chief in the City of Cullman’s 144-year history will step away next month from the position he’s held for the past 34 years.

Longtime public servant Kenny Culpepper announced his retirement Monday from a law enforcement career in Cullman that spans a total of 44 years. A Cullman High School graduate, Culpepper first joined the city police department in 1978, serving a decade before being named chief of police in 1988 — a position he’s continuously held, through numerous changes in municipal administrative leadership, ever since.

Culpepper’s retirement, which he shared publicly at Monday’s meeting of the Cullman City Council, will take effect on Dec. 1.

As he’s done many times in the past, Culpepper attended Monday’s city council meeting and led the assembled gathering in the meeting’s opening prayer and Pledge of Allegiance. Noting that he would continue to serve the department in a reserve officer capacity, the Auburn University graduate, 21-year Alabama National Guardsman and longtime member of St. John’s Evangelical Protestant Church attributed his long and stable oversight of the city’s police department to the quality of Cullman’s people and leadership.

“I’ve just been very fortunate and blessed to be in a good community and have good people and bosses,” he told the council. “I was trying to remember how many council meetings I have been to. I couldn’t really remember them all, but a couple of them really stand out,” he added, sharing a humorous anecdote or two from sticky enforcement situations that arose during meetings past.

Mayor Woody Jacobs read a proclamation commemorating Culpepper’s four-decade career, noting that his “confident leadership skills and unpretentious humility have allowed him to lead … through both good times and difficult times, while inspiring trust, cooperation, and commitment among his officers, and fostering a respectful and compassionate relationship with the community.

“Through his service to his church and numerous organizations, and his service with the Alabama National Guard, Kenny represents the very best of Cullman, living his life in humble and devoted service to our community, our state, and our country.”

The council did not appoint a successor to fill the police chief’s role on Monday, opting to save the matter for an upcoming meeting as the group used the occasion at hand to honor Culpepper and his years of service.

“Some leaders play a high-profile role, while others are quietly going about changing lives through charity and compassion, The Cullman Times wrote in naming Culpepper its 2016 Distinguished Citizen of the Year, highlighting his “gift for teaching and a keen sense of observing and acting on trends that could affect the community.”