Mayor Terry Oden leaves big shoes to fill, city leaders say

Later this year, Mountain Brook Mayor Terry Oden will bring a lifetime of public service to a close. When he walks out of the mayor’s office for the last time this fall, Oden will leave behind a legacy of monumental changes to the city and, according to several city employees, a huge hole that will not be easy to fill. It’s his commitment to the city, they agreed, combined with his sense of humor and simultaneous seriousness on the job, which will be hard to replace. 

Oden’s legacy begins long before he began serving the people of this city. More than 50 years ago, Oden first began by serving presidents, dignitaries and was among the very first Air Marshals in what was then a top-secret operation. As a Secret Service agent for 25 years, Oden provided personal protection for the likes of former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and President Lyndon B. Johnson.  

When he finally settled in “Mayberry,” as he calls it, Oden helped steer Mountain Brook and its residents through some of the city’s biggest changes, including the construction of the new City Hall, the total transformation of Lane Parke and the opening of the Grand Bohemian hotel. 

This year, Oden decided it was enough. 

“After 24 years of elected office in Mountain Brook,” said Oden, some of which he served on the Mountain Brook Council, “I have decided not to run again.” 

His absence will surely be felt, said City Manager Sam Gaston, who himself celebrated 20 years with the city back in 2013.  

“The mayor will have several things to leave to his legacy,” said Gaston. “First, he is the longest serving mayor in Mountain Brook history. While mayor, the city has strengthened its financial base and standing, renovated the commercial villages, secured the old Shades Valley High School property for public use, added many additional miles of sidewalks in the community, built a new municipal complex and several other municipal buildings.”

It’s Oden’s “love and dedication” to the community that Gaston said he will miss most. 

Council President Virginia Smith said Oden is an outstanding gentleman, one who she will miss working with. 

“Mayor Oden is very straightforward and levelheaded,” said Smith. “He enjoys serving as spokesperson of the city. He also has a great sense of humor — though perhaps not always appropriate!”

Smith said Oden, like Councilman Jack Carl, who is also retiring, is always “willing to listen to others and explore new ideas. Both, she said, are also always willing to “put in the extra time that our political life calls for.” In terms of his legacy, Smith said the community should remember his involvement in the completion of the municipal center and for having “the most interesting mayor’s office anywhere.” 

Mountain Brook Chamber of Commerce Director Suzan Doidge said Oden’s advice, which she said he isn’t afraid to give, has always been “spot on.”

“Mayor Oden may have had many titles in his life,” she said, “but the one that I have had the pleasure to work with has been mayor of his beloved city of Mountain Brook.”

Oden, she said, has been a “pleasure to work with.

“He is someone I have learned a lot from,” said Doidge. “As an analytical thinker he always approaches an issue with a lot of research and is very thorough. He is a passionate person and a very loyal friend.”

Above all, Doidge said she will miss that “wicked personality and sense of humor.”