MONROE — City officials on Thursday honored Police Chief Fred Kelley on his last day after 46 years on the job — 31 if those as the city’s top cop.

Kelley was feted at a drop-in style lunch at City Hall for his final shift, and a steady stream of city workers — from the streets department to the mayor’s office — filed through to share a meal and piece of cake.

“After so many years, he’s just done so much for the entire community,” said Mayor Tom Miller, among the many city officials to attend and wish Kelley well. “He has kept this community safe and getting along with each other for many years.”

Kelley, among the most high-profile officials most citizens encounter, was never one to talk in sound bites, but he made his presence known over the years, those who know him say.

“I’ve been lucky in the things that I’ve done, and hopefully I’ve made a difference,” Kelley told the Times in a previous interview. “I’m hoping I’ve set the department up for the future as well as I can.”

Indeed, one of Kelley’s leadership team, Captain Nathan Foltz, takes over for Kelley. Foltz also stopped by to wish his former boss well Thursday. Foltz brings more than a decade of law enforcement experience to the job and began his career with MPD in 2013.

Kelley was born in Richland Center, but his family for a time moved around northern Illinois and Wisconsin, he told the Times in one of many profile pieces on him published over the years. Those were difficult times, he said. Kelley was raised in New Berlin and even recalls race riots in the town near Milwaukee at that time. At the end of his sophomore year of high school, Kelley said his parents split and the family returned to Richland Center. After graduating from Richland Center High School in 1973, he decided to join the Army and served with the Military Police.

After the Army, he attended UW-Richland but soon after applied at the local police department and was hired in there in 1977. Kelley was hired in Monroe not long after, and after five years, was promoted to sergeant.

He spent two years in the detective bureau and then joined the drug task force for another five, where he even spent time as an undercover officer.

Kelley was sworn into the Monroe Chief’s position in January 1995.

“I was very fortunate to have good people and good city (officials) who believed in me and what we were trying to do at the department,” Kelley said, when asked the secret to his longevity at one department. “Fortunately, I came to a place where the community valued the police department and there was a great deal of respect and cooperation with law enforcement. That’s what made a big difference, I think.”

The out-going chief isn’t entirely sure what he will do with his free time, although he said he’s anxious to welcome a grandchild in July. Kelley said he enjoys traveling with his wife, Michelle, and his extended family, which includes three adult children. He also loves history and often studies and reads non-fiction — learning about the gangsters of the 1930s era, among other topics. He enjoys the old west, military and war history.

Kelley and his family plan to stay in Monroe.

“I’m not really planning anything and that is OK at this time in my life,” said the retiring lawman, who, nonetheless, jokes that he is getting a new email address and phone number. “I don’t have anything planned other spending time with my wife and a family and that’s great for me.”