Virgil Basgall didn’t intend to become a city manager. Originally from Hays, he wanted to be a sports writer. But his life took a different path.
Basgall, who died Friday at age 97, served as Emporia’s city manager for 22 years, retiring on Jan. 1, 1982.
During his career in Emporia, Basgall oversaw an era of widespread development. When Dolly Madison wanted to come to town in the 60s, he helped pass property tax incentives. He also was instrumental in bringing Armour (now Tyson) and the Safeway pet food plant (now Emporia Pet Food) to town. He helped to bring the Interstate 35 bypass to town and worked to get Emporia to build a public golf course.
“That’s been an important aspect of industrial development,” Basgall said of the golf course in an earlier Gazette interview. “When we were talking to industries, they asked if we had a golf course. That’s important to big companies.”
Basgall became interested in city government while working as a reporter for the Hays Daily News. The city beat brought him into everyday contact with the city manager there, who convinced Basgall to get a job with the city.
His career in city administration started when he became city clerk of Hays. He became city manager there in 1945. In 1950, he became city manager of Junction City, where he served until he came to Emporia in 1960.
During his time as Emporia city manager, Basgall helped many others form an interest in city government.
Former city manager Steve Commons, now assistant city manager in Edmond, Okla., said he had planned to go to law school when Basgall hired him for an internship with the city.
“I got hooked on city government from his initial guidance,” Commons said. “Virgil was always very good as a mentor to others. There are lots of folks that got their start in city government with some guidance from Virgil.”
Basgall wasn’t just interested in what was going on in Emporia, either. He took a leadership role when the state was starting the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System, and served on the KPERS board of trustees for many years.
“People that are a part of the KPERS system, from teachers to state and city officials, can owe part of its existence to the efforts that Virgil and others at the time took to create it,” Commons said. “He was not just an Emporia leader, he was a state leader when it came to an issue like that.”
In 1983, Basgall received a Distinguished Service Award from the International City Management Association, and he served for a time as president of the League of Kansas Municipalities. After he retired, the Kansas Association of City Management set up a scholarship program in his name at the University of Kansas, and Basgall took an active interest in the students chosen for the scholarship.
“The scholarship wasn’t just in name because he wanted to be involved,” Commons said, “and if you knew Virgil, you couldn’t leave him out of something. He wanted to be involved, and he took a personal interest in the people that had been selected to receive that scholarship.”
One of Basgall’s greatest strengths as a professional, Commons said, was his willingness to give of his time and effort.