Fereidoun Shokouhi grew up in one of the largest cities in the world but said he felt most at home managing the roads and bridges of Champaign County.

Shokouhi grew up in Tehran, Iran’s largest city, with a population of more than 8 million people. But he chose to raise his family in Champaign County, and he said residents have always made him feel like he grew up here.

In the 25 years since he first joined the Champaign County Engineer’s Office, Shokouhi has managed more than $70 million in public funds, repaired hundreds of miles of county roads, restored dozens of bridges and fought on the county’s behalf for a proposed road project that county officials believed would have had a significant impact on the county’s economy.

Shokouhi will retire at the end of the year, and will turn the office over to Stephen McCall, a longtime chief deputy engineer who was elected earlier this fall.

The best part about his job, Shokouhi said, was the satisfaction that came from working with other members of his staff to ensure the safety of area residents as they traveled along the county’s roads. He saw the job as a moral obligation to serve residents to the best of his ability, Shokouhi said.

“Maybe the biggest challenge was the oath I had to take,” he said.

When Shokouhi was 19, he moved from Iran to the United States to get an education, eventually earning a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Missouri at Rolla. At the time, it was the top school in the country specializing in mining engineering. He moved to Ohio to take an engineering position with the American Electric Power Service Corporation and soon learned about an opening with the Champaign County Engineer’s Office.

The job and city appealed to him, he said, because it seemed like an excellent place to raise his young family. He began serving as Champaign County engineer in 1995, and has been re-elected several times since.

During his tenure, Shokouhi has always managed the engineer’s budget efficiently, said Steve Hess, Champaign County commissioner. Unlike many counties, there are no bridges in Champaign County that have had to be permanently closed because of needed maintenance, Hess said. Shokouhi also spent several years setting aside funds to build a $1.3 million storage facility to house county vehicles and equipment. The county’s previous garage was built in 1922 and was no longer adequate.

The facility was completed this year, and the county did not have to take out a loan to do so, Hess said.

“He stretched public dollars as far as they can be stretched, in my opinion,” Hess said.

Shokouhi has faced challenges throughout his career. He served as the county’s point man advocating for a proposed U.S. 68 bypass, which many local officials believe would have led to significant economic development benefits for the county. While state officials have repeatedly declined to fund the project, Shokouhi said it was not due to a lack of effort on the county’s part.

“My final conclusion as I am finishing my career in public office is if the U.S. 68 project did not go forward, it was not because of a lack of effort,” Shokouhi said. “I believe it was a lack of vision on the state of Ohio to not see the value to Champaign County and the state of Ohio.”

The best part of the job, Shokouhi said, it that residents were able to see the end result of his staff’s work. When possible, much of the work was done in house, and he credited his staff for keeping roads and bridges in the county in the condition they are in.

Shokouhi also thanked other elected officials and county residents for allowing him to serve the county for so long.

“At the end of the day, they’ve been more kind to me than I have ever been to them and for that I thank them,” he said.