Stonington ― After 18 years on the borough’s Board of Warden and Burgesses — 10 of them as warden —Jeff Callahan is leaving public service and, after 31 years, the village he loves.

“We have so many friends here, and it will be tough,” the 79-year-old Callahan said.

At the end of May, Callahan and his wife Lynn will be moving to Cleveland to be closer to family.

He reflected on his life and his time in borough government during an interview Wednesday.

He recalled that when he and his wife moved to the borough as empty-nesters with two grown children in 1992, they had to scrape together the money to buy their home. He said it was worth it, because they loved the quaint village.

“The borough is a funny little community. People live here, for the most part, because they want to be here. It’s kind of self-selecting. And it’s charming, you know, surrounded by water ― sometimes the water is a little closer than you’d like it, but I find it to be an intelligent, rational, and interesting place,” he said.

He said the residents are part of the charm as well as part of his success as warden.

“The borough is a very civil place, and people are respectful and polite, so it’s not a difficult job, for the most part, to manage the place, because people are reasonable, which makes your life pretty good,” he said.

Callahan attended the United States Naval Academy and, after his first sea tour in the United States Navy, attended Johns Hopkins University where he earned his doctorate in Oceanography.

He retired as a captain, and credits his time in the Navy for making him the person he is today.

“I just think that my management style, my personality and so forth were shaped a lot by that Navy experience,” he said.

“Some captains command by shouting a lot and some don’t. I’m one of the latter,” he said.

He learned it is essential to lead by example and applied that lesson to his work as Warden.

“While I’ve been warden, I’ve been in the office at least part of every day and getting around the village to see what’s going on, and helping people out if they’ve got a problem,” he said.

He said that his position as warden was primarily administrative, but he enjoyed that piece of it.

“I get a lot of satisfaction out of basically keeping the lights on and keeping the place heated and dry,” he said. “That’s my personality I guess.”

Callahan started his own consulting firm before going to work for the University of Rhode Island as director of operations and facilities for the School of Oceanography in Narraganset. He retired in 2012 and was elected warden the following year.

Some of the accomplishments he’s most proud of include the renovation of the Borough Clock in the United Church on Main Street ― he’s often referred to as the Keeper of the Clock ― increasing the borough’s flood insurance discount from 5% to 10% his first year in office and maintaining it for the duration of his tenure and improving what he said were once frosty relations between the town and borough.

“The Borough was seen as ― and sometimes acted as ― an elitist enclave that didn't need the Town. That is no longer the case,” he said, commending First Selectman Danielle Chesebrough and her predecessor Rob Simmons as “excellent partners.”

Above all, he said he considers navigating the COVID-19 pandemic to be his most important achievement.

“Interpreting, communicating, and implementing the many executive orders from the governor and guidance from other authorities required a great deal of time and constant focus. It also required setting an example by appropriate personal conduct. Both things contributed to getting the Borough through the pandemic in relatively good shape,” he said.

Callahan offered some words of wisdom to future wardens and people interested in public service.

“My advice is to do it because you really want to accomplish something, you want to make things better for your community or your state, or whatever level. Don’t do it for the money—certainly not Warden,” he said laughing.

He said that he and his wife plan to travel—both in the country and abroad-- and he may do some volunteer work once they settle in to their new home. When his term ends May 8, he said he will be officially retired from politics, though he never considered his role as warden to be political.

“I consider it civic service, and that’s not a political thing, with me anyway,” he said.