Hingham Town Administrator Ted Alexiades will retire at the end of the year after 23 years with the town, the last seven at the helm.

In an interview, Alexiades said he decided to step down to spend more time with his 85-year-old father, who lives in California and has been suffering with Alzheimer’s disease the past few years. He said he also visits an aunt in Florida.

“It was a difficult decision,’’ Alexiades said about leaving his job and retiring at age 54.

Alexiades, who lives in Kingston, began with the town in 1994.

Board of Selectmen chairwoman Mary Power said in a statement that the town “will benefit for a long time because of Ted’s two decades of service, first as finance director and then as town administrator.’’

“We will miss Ted greatly, but we support and applaud his decision to spend more time with his father and family,’’ she said.

Selectman Paul Healey said a highlight of his service to the town was to join Alexiades to accept the Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award at the Pentagon in 2015.

“Hingham was the only small town in America to receive the award,’’ he said of the recognition to employers who support employees serving in the National Guard and Reserve.

Alexiades also received a Patriot Award from the Department of Defense the year before for his support of these “citizen warriors’’ with flexible schedules, time off prior to and after deployment, and other measures. He was nominated by the town’s veterans’ service officer, who was deployed with the Navy. Last year, Alexiades was recognized by the Navy Reserve at a ceremony at Naval Station Norfolkcq in Virginia.

Jean Lang can be reached at eanmcmillanlang@gmail.com.