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The city has not found a replacement yet, a city official said.
“We’re not letting him retire,” City Secretary Becky Miska said with a laugh.
Pryor, who lived in several countries across Europe and Asia for 13 years as an Army officer, started working for Edna in May 2003 with more than seven years prior city management experience in Hearne, 25 miles northeast of Bryan-College Station.
“I felt like it was time,” Pryor, 67, said of his retiring. “I wanted to spend some time for myself and with family.”
The San Antonio native and wife, Sally, of South Carolina, have three children and eight grandchildren. Two of his daughters live in New Braunfels. The other lives in Edna.
He met his wife when he was stationed in Germany.
She went to visit her sister, who was also in Germany with the military, and after she left, they continued communicating through letters, Pryor said. Two years later, in 1969, they were married.
“Having been around the world and settling in a small town, it’s been different,” Pryor said. “For her (his wife), it wasn’t that much of a change. She grew up in a small town. For me, it’s been a greater change, but it’s been enjoyable.”
After Pryor retired from the Army in 1992, he used the GI Bill to fund his studies in public administration for an undergraduate degree from Trinity University in San Antonio and a graduate degree from Iowa State University.
The job in Hearne became available soon after one of his public administration professors set up a meeting for Pryor with Hearne’s city manager at the time. He started working for the city in September 1995.
“After I retired, I was looking to do something on the public service side. I didn’t know it would be that,” Pryor said.
Of his time as manager, cleaning up some of the dilapidated houses and empty lots in the city and fixing some of the water and sewer lines were the most important, Pryor said.
Pryor was not sure of his next step after retirement, he said.
“I haven’t planned that far ahead yet,” Pryor said.