Principal Terry Gebard retires after more than 30 years

In 1991, two years out of college, I answered a classified ad for an architectural designer at OPN Architects, then a firm of 17 people in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

At the end of this year, I will retire from OPN, now a firm of 120 with five locations in three states, after 34 years, the last 24 as a principal and owner.

More than the projects it is the people I have met along the way that I am most grateful for.

 People transcend the work. When I drive by a building, when I see projects, I think of the people who made those projects and what I learned from them. Many of those relationships endure today.

For the mentors who taught me, the leaders before and beside me, the staff who looked to me, and the clients who trusted me – there is one word …

Grateful.