Mr. Urbanski, a master plumber, donated such work to the borough for 35 years -- often working with Councilman Ed Mihoces, a former Glassport police chief.

On Jan. 3, the lifelong Glassport residents and childhood friends retire from public life as a new mayor and councilman are sworn in.

Neither sought reelection.

Mr. Urbanski, 74, served on council for 15 years, six of those as president. He was mayor the past 20 years.

Mr. Mihoces, 79, was a borough police officer for 30 years beginning in the 1960s, the last five of those years as chief. He was elected councilman in 1994.

Mayor-elect Terry DiMarco remembered that, as a patrolman, Mr. Mihoces chased him and his underage friends to confiscate their six packs of beer. As chief, he often took troublesome youngsters fishing and hunting.

Mr. DiMarco said the mayor is "better than a map" with his knowledge of the location of the borough's water, gas, sewer, and electrical lines.

He has also been the town's biggest cheerleader, encouraging businesses, such as Plutkins Plumbing, Pennsylvania Electric Coil Ltd., and Micron, to relocate there, and others like Tube City to stay put.

"He only lives a block away from me. It's walking distance," said Mr. DiMarco of tapping into Mr. Urbanski's know-how and experience when he becomes mayor.

Mr. Urbanski and Mr. Mihoces often held fishing contests for the town's children. They also started the Glassport Food Bank, delivering food to needy residents in Mr. Mihoces' pick-up truck.

They went at all hours to the homes of elderly, bed-ridden residents who called for help when they fell out of bed.

They organized free turkey dinners at the seniors center, where Mr. Urbanski, who owned his own heating, air conditioning, and remodeling company, did the plumbing and heating work for free.

He also served as the borough's building inspector from 1988-2000, donating his salary to the recreation fund to keep the youth center operational.

For his part, Mr. Mihoces performed all the body and mechanical work on borough police cars at no charge after his shift ended.

While he often talked to students about the dangers of drugs and alcohol, he also talked about plumbing with them.

The men fished and hunted, and played softball on the borough's Old Timers team.

At 16 years of age, Mr. Mihoces entered the U.S. Navy, serving in World War II as a gunner in the South Pacific and Atlantic oceans and the Mediterranean Sea.

Returning to Glassport, he worked at the Pittsburgh Steel Foundry and other plants before becoming a policeman. To supplement his annual income of $3,500, he hung wallpaper.

Mr. Urbanski served in the 82nd Airborne Division of the U.S. Army during the Korean Conflict. At home, he worked with heating and air conditioning contractors to learn the trade before starting his own business.

He and his wife of 47 years, Sandy, are the parents of four daughters, three of whom are married to police officers, a family tradition begun by Mr. Urbanski's father, Clarence, the borough's police chief for 37 years.

In his retirement, Mr. Mihoces, who lost his wife of 55 years, Ann, in 2003, plans to fish from his boat on the Monongahela River.

These days, the father of four uses a walker to get around.

Mr. Urbanski, an avid outdoorsman who takes movies of his adventures, such as hunting in Alaska, plans more outings.

He will also work to develop the hill area: 131 acres of vacant land the borough owns over filled-in strip mines. A 300-home development, he said, could turn the tide in a town whose population dropped from 9,500 in the 1950s to 4,500 today.

After all, attracting new families "is the only way you build a community," he said.