(Photo by Jess Mancini) From left, County Administrator Mary Seufer and Commissioners Bob Tebay and Jimmy Colombo on Monday talk about Tebay’s retirement from the commission effective on March 5.

PARKERSBURG — A Wood County Commissioner on Monday announced he is retiring effective next month.

Bob Tebay served on the commission from Jan 1, 1997, to Dec. 31, 2008, and from Jan. 1, 2015, to the present.

“That’s a long time,” Tebay, 91, said.

Tebay’s retirement is effective on March 5, a Thursday and a regular meeting of the day of the commission.

The process to appoint someone to fill the unexpired term until the general election in November will begin immediately, Commission President Blair Couch said. Applicants must live in the 3rd Magisterial District and be a Republican, Couch said.

“I’d like to get that process moving,” he said.

Applicants are asked to send a letter of interest and a resume to the office of Wood County Administrator Marty Seufer, as soon as possible. The address is #1 Court Square, Suite 205, Parkersburg, WV 26101.

Couch hopes to have the vacancy filled in time for the replacement to begin serving the unexpired term on the Monday after March 5. Statutorily, the commission has 30 days after the vacancy is created to fill the vacancy, Couch said.

Tebay earlier decided not to run for re-election this year.

He said it was “both a privilege and an honor” over the last 23 years.

“I’ve served with a lot of good people,” Tebay said.

Couch and Commissioner Jimmy Colombo cited accomplishments of which Tebay was involved in the last two decades. Among those was Fort Boreman Park, the Wood County Justice Center, the E-911 center and the Wood County Resiliency Center.

“Bob is an interesting person,” Colombo said. “He did a good job for the county.”

When Colombo is out and about in the community, people are always asking about Tebay, he said.

“People always ask me ‘how’s old Bob,'” Colombo said, to which Tebay said people ask him the same thing about Colombo.

“Bob has earned his reputation for doing things the right way,” Colombo said.

Tebay also was credited for the good financial standing of the county by Colombo and Couch. The county is without debt after millions of dollars in construction and renovations, they said.

“We’re in very good financial condition because of Bob’s good leadership,” Couch said.

Tebay was a businessman and owner of a dairy farm and the developer of the Westwood Estates residential development in Wood County. He served two years in the U.S. Army as a first lieutenant in the artillery.

He was elected in 1996, re-elected in 2002, lost the 2008 election to Wayne Dunn, then defeated Dunn in the 2014 election and was re-elected in 2020.

Tebay plans to stay engaged and participate in local issues.

“I also plan to enjoy life and not be here twice a week,” he said.