After decades of being a welcoming face that greeted people at the Bob L. Burger Recreation Center in Lafayette, Marty Parks has retired.

He jokes, however, that Lafayette will not be able to get rid of him that quickly.

Park’s last day as a Bob L. Burger Recreation Center front desk associate was Tuesday. After working in the city government for over 25 years, he has become a well-known and beloved face at the recreation center. During his farewell party, dozens of people came to wish him the best on the new chapter of his life. From people thanking him for helping them get over their nerves about teaching a class, former coworkers who have worked with Marty since they were teenagers and patrons who were greeted by Parks every day on their way into the gym, dozens of people came by to wish him a great retirement.

“It’s been a ride,” Parks said.

Before transitioning into the front desk associate job, Parks worked as the building supervisor for the recreation center. As the building supervisor, his job was to “bring the building to life” by turning on lights, setting up equipment and ensuring the building was clean.

Many long-time patrons of the recreation center said that he was able to bring the building to life in more than one way.

They described him as a fixture of the building and said the recreation center won’t be the same with no Martys around.

Patrons Roger Stenerson and Eric Doner described Parks as a friendly and welcoming person who has been greeting them at the recreation center for more than a decade. Doner said his humorous personality and cheery outlook in life have made him a great person to be around.

“What (Parks) said to me once, was, ‘What other people think of me is none of my business,’” Doner said.

Parks had a way of knowing every patron’s name and making them feel seen and welcome at the recreation center, patrons said. Apart from wishing him the best in retirement, both Stenerson and Doner relayed the fact that they expect to see him at the recreation center as a patron now, and they look forward to seeing him at the classes.

“I’ll definitely come back,” Parks said.

Parks said his family has always valued customer service and being kind to others. So, he never looked at being kind to others as a task he had to put effort into, but rather as something that always come to him naturally. He said it takes more effort to be mean than it takes to be kind, so he encourages everyone to be kind.

Fishing in South Carolina and Florida is one of the many plans Parks has for retirement. He said it is easy to tell friends and family you will visit them, and it is even easier to get too busy with life and never be able to visit them. Now that he plans to have more free time, Parks said he plans on making good on those promises to visit his friends and family.

“Just going to go out and spread some joy; that’s my thing, that’s what I do,” Parks said.