After 26 years of service, Ken Griffin has retired as Coppell’s director of engineering and public works, while his daughter, Morgan Griffin begins her position as a librarian at the Coppell Cozby Library and Community Commons.

The Griffins family experiences a “passing of the torch” moment as Mr. Griffin retires his position for the city and Morgan begins a new one.

Mr. Griffin has developed a variety of the city’s significant projects such as Sandy Lake Road and the water line system that have transformed the city to what is today.

“We were struggling in the early to mid 90’s on being able to provide water, but we’ve built improvements,” Mr. Griffin said. “As long as you never think about [being able to use water] in the mornings, we did our job right.”

Having worked as the head of public works, keeping the city presentable and seeing both communal and physical growth has been the sole goal in Ken’s work.

“A town builds and rebuilds and remakes itself – it is important for us to keep our community nice, fresh and clean,” Mr. Griffin said. “You have to want to make people come to Coppell.”

Although in a different field, Morgan has approached involvement in the community with a similar dedication and interest as her father.

Having volunteered at the Coppell library and being a youth advisor to the library board since she was 12, Morgan is no stranger to lending a helping hand to the city.

From being a writer for Texas Woman’s University newspaper, The Lasso, and a creative writing student, Morgan has been guided by interests in reading and writing since her youth which led her to her position at the city library.

Morgan, a 2008 Coppell High School graduate, is also a former editor for The Sidekick.

“It was extremely meaningful and special to start my career as a librarian where I first dreamed to become a librarian,” Morgan said. “It was a full circle.”

Although she’s new on the board, Morgan has already left a great impression.

“[Morgan] is an excellent librarian here and has a lot of passion,” Coppell Cozby Library and Community Commons library director Vicky Chiavetta said. “She has a lot new stuff to bring to our program.”

Over the years, the father and daughter have attended city council meetings and receptions together, building shared experiences that involve themselves in the community.

“I always knew what was happening in the city just because I was adjacent to someone who was working for the city,” Morgan said.

Appreciating the city’s approach of giving the best service for its people is a philosophy shared by both Mr. Griffin and Morgan.

Mr. Griffin hopes to have led by example through his work towards his family.

Being a father to four daughters, Mr. Griffin is proud to have been in a position that gives back to the city and allows his kids to potentially follow his footsteps.

“When I look at all four of the girls that I’ve got, they’re all in positions of service – they provide a service back to a community and back to a group,” Mr. Griffin said.

As a door closes in Mr. Griffin’s career, he feels nothing but gratitude from the experiences and accomplishments in his time working for Coppell. As another door opens in Morgan’s career, she looks forward to dedicating her time for the city library.

“We’ve done something good here – I was just fortunate to have been a part of it,” Mr. Griffin said.