Though the May 1 meeting of Northampton County Council was a quick one, Ken Kraft stopped to recognize Director of Administration Tom Harp, who is retiring after five years with the county.

Harp was the driving force behind a state-of-the-art Archives building, the Citizens' Academy and the move into a centralized human services building.

"It's been a pleasure working with all of you," said Harp, noting Northampton County, "is where I grew up, where I went to school. My heart is here in the County."

Tom grew up in Bethlehem, graduating from Liberty ('67) and Moravian ('71). After that, he started a long and distinguished career in human services. He began by working with the developmentally disabled in White Haven. During his eight years there, he picked up a master's degree in counseling from the University of Scranton.

Tom returned to the Lehigh Valley as a counselor in Allentown's Office of Vocational Rehabilitation, helping people with disabilities find work. He was promoted to supervisor and eventually became the district administrator, overseeing a staff of 35 people in four different counties. He ended his 35 years in human services as the state's bureau director.

Over this time, Tom got to know John Stoffa, who then headed Human Services in both Northampton and Lehigh County. Stoffa recruited him to join the Allentown Kiwanas, which does a lot of work for downtown Allentown kids with youth soccer, the Boys and Girls Club, Salvation Army and some arts groups. Once retired, Tom intensified his work with the Kiwanis and even joined the board at the LV Center for Independent Living.

Tom initially accepted a rather low-paying job as deputy director to help his friend, John Stoffa. He took over as director in 2011, and stayed on to assist Executive John Brown in his early days.