Tom Kitko retires after 40 successful years at Ascend’s Decatur plant
Tom Kitko had barely taken off his cap and gown when a career opportunity came knocking. That’s how quickly he landed his first job working at Ascend’s Decatur plant after receiving his mechanical engineering degree from Penn State in 1975.
Kitko was hired on June 16 as a development engineer, and never considered leaving the company – until now. After 40 years, several promotions, and many recognition awards, he has decided to retire.
The Decatur team celebrated his tenure with cake and gifts during a retirement luncheon on June 26, his last day. His wife Judy also attended.
“It’s been a really good learning experience for me,” said Kitko, a project management engineer during most of his career. “The company helped me develop as an engineer and as a person, and has given me a lot of opportunity to do things and stretch myself.”
Kitko received his first promotion to senior engineer in 1980 based on his “increasing ability to handle complex projects and applying his mechanical engineering expertise to difficult problems,” according to company records.
A year later, he received an achievement award for his execution of capital projects in nylon intermediates. He was promoted to mechanical engineering specialist in 1984, partly because he was “highly respected by his peers,” and “his work orders are recognized as the most thorough in the Project Engineering Department.”
In 1985, he received another achievement award for his contribution to the successful completion of the Hydrogen Plant Energy Improvement project.
More recently, he has worked on updating engineering standards for the company and the Decatur plant’s AFT purification project.
At his retirement party, the Decatur team presented Kitko with a framed aerial picture of the plant signed with their well wishes. He also received his 40-year service award gift – a home theater system, which he selected from the company’s service award catalog. He’s been with the company so long that he has many of the traditional gifts, such as watches and clocks.
“My house is wired for the system, so I thought, “Shoot, why not get it,” he said. “It’s something I’ll use all the time.”
His decision to retire, however, comes with mixed emotions. While he looks forward to a new life, he will miss the company and working with his team members, many of whom he has worked with for a long time, he said.
“It’s a great, dynamic company. It’s focused on its customers and growth,” he said. “I think in Decatur we’ve tried to deliver on what the company is striving for and tried to build the value the best we can. There’s a good bit of personal satisfaction knowing you have done good, performed well, and provided value to the company. Everybody benefits.”
Kitko said he plans to relax in retirement, as well as travel and catch up on a honey-do list his wife has compiled over the years. He also will devote time to his favorite hobby – playing in a senior men’s baseball league that runs summer through fall.
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