Apr. 4—Jerry Manzagol didn’t know how to quit.

He had multiple retirements from government work. First from the city of Santa Fe, where he served as city manager under Mayor Louis Montaño from 1982 to 1986. Then from state government, where he served as Cabinet secretary for the Health and Environment Department from 1986 to 1987. Then from U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman‘s office, where he worked as an administrator from 1986 to 1988.

After leaving Bingaman’s office, he sold real estate in Santa Fe for several years, and then returned to public service as superintendent of the Regulation and Licensing Department for several years in the 1990s during Gov. Bruce King’s third term. In 2015, Gov. Susana Martinez appointed him to the state Personnel Board.

Manzagol died at home after suffering a stroke March 18 at age 86. Despite his long career in public service, he is best remembered for his commitment to his family.

“He was the love of my life,” said his widow, Sheila Manzagol.

The two were married for 42 years. Together they raised Rick Serna, Sheila’s son from a previous relationship. After Rick died suddenly at age 39, the couple adopted his 7-year-old son Erick. Sheila Manzagol said her husband was devoted to the boy.

“He didn’t have any kids of his own, but he ended up being a parent,” she said.

The couple also had a coterie of rescue animals over the years, including cats, dogs, a parrot and a cockatoo. Sheila Manzagol said he would even feed the crows and feral cats that hung around outside.

“He loved animals,” she said. “He thought he was St. Francis.”

Manzagol grew up in Dearborn, Mich., and moved to Albuquerque with his family in the 1950s, graduating from Highland High School in 1959. He served in the U.S. Army and received a bachelor’s degree and a master’s from the University of New Mexico.

His public service career began at the State Personnel Department, where he was deputy director from 1973 to 1975. He then worked in the Motor Vehicle Division, where he was director from 1978 to 1982.

Manzagol was an avid runner, staying in shape into his later years. He could frequently be seen walking the couple’s dogs or exercising at the Genoveva Chavez Community Center, Sheila Manzagol said.

Despite his deep roots in New Mexico, he remained a loyal fan of Michigan sports teams decades after leaving the state.

“He never forgot the Detroit Lions or Tigers. Everybody was like, ‘Who?’ ” Sheila Manzagol said.

Manzagol’s job put him in a lot of situations where he was required to keep things calm, she said. He prided himself on being nonpartisan and tried to avoid controversy.

“He always said ‘I am not a politician, I am an administrator,’ ” she said. He was also reliable.

“If he gave you his word, he kept it,” Sheila Manzagol said.

Manzagol didn’t like to brag about himself and didn’t like having his picture taken, especially in his later years after enduring six surgeries for a detached retina on his left eye, which he eventually lost.

Personally a Democrat, Manzagol served in the administrations of both Republicans and Democrats. Sheila Manzagol recalled the pair attending a Democrats for Domenici event in support of Sen. Pete Domenici, with whom he had played semi-pro baseball.

That was news to his wife.

“Domenici got up there and said, ‘If I played baseball with all these guys that said I played, we would have three teams,’ ” she said. “‘But there is one gentleman here that I did play semi-pro ball with, and that’s Jerry Manzagol.’ And I just looked at him and said, ‘How come you never told me?’ But that was Jerry.”