Island County Senior Services Director Mike McIntyre announced his resignation last week to the agency’s board of directors.

McIntyre’s eight-year tenure is nearly twice as long as any of his predecessors and will finish at the end of January, he said.

“It just wears you out,” he said. “You spend enormous hours, which is fine, except after a while it takes so much out of you and you need to see something different.”

McIntyre said that it was a combination of factors that led to his departure. But he leaves the organization as it prepares to enter 2005 with a nearly $70,000 budget shortfall and the possible cessation of meal services in Oak Harbor.

Since McIntyre took over, he has been able to increase the program’s budget by nearly doubling it to its current $2.1 million. He has also overseen the development of the thrift store in Freeland. That business has grown more than seven fold, grossing approximately $550,000 annually.

McIntyre said running the programs has been increasingly difficult as of late, though.

“We’re just trying to keep pace with the increase of demand from an increasing senior population that we have here,” McIntyre said.

According to a report from the agency, it estimates that by 2025, Island County’s senior population will double to 35,497, which would account for approximately 35 percent of the county’s population.

Mike Moore, president of the agency’s board of directors, said that losing McIntyre would be difficult for the agency.

“Good heavens, it’s like he’s the guy who’s driving the wagons,” Moore said. “He has such a passion for what he was doing.”

McIntyre said the grueling nature of running a non-profit agency has drained him. He said he averages two and a half days off per month.

The board will begin its search for a replacement Nov. 30, he said.

You can reach News-Times reporter Eric Berto at eberto@whidbeynewstimes.com