ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Wednesday, June 5, 1996                TAG: 9606050064
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: C-1  EDITION: METRO 
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: KENNETH SINGLETARY STAFF WRITER 

A 40-YEAR REIGN COMING TO AN END

JOHN LEMLEY TOOK the town manager's office in Christiansburg in 1956 and has been there ever since. But now, after helping usher the town through decades of change, he's retiring.

Town Manager John Lemley dropped a bombshell at Tuesday night's Town Council meeting: He announced he would retire Sept. 1, 40 years to the day after becoming Christiansburg's first - and so far only - town manager.

Lemley, who will be 67 in July, had already told council members of his decision and said he had been thinking seriously of retiring for the past six to nine months.

He is the longest-serving town manager in the state and one of the most well-regarded and influential public servants in the New River Valley and beyond. Lemley played a key role in annexations that set the stage for the town's transformation from sleepy county seat to today's commercial and residential hub.

Mayor Harold Linkous said Lemley, who has performed numerous duties and fulfilled many responsibilities in his tenure, will be difficult to replace.

Lemley said he plans to do a lot of fishing and will remain in Christiansburg.

Lemley's vacancy isn't the only one that council learned it must fill: W.R.L. Craft, who has been town attorney for more than 20 years, and Imogene Brumfield, who has held a variety of posts with Christiansburg, including clerk of council, also announced they are retiring.

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