CEDAR LAKE | Longtime Hanover Central High School administrator Joe Fetty plans to put away the ruler in favor of health club memberships, dance lessons and sleeping in next school year.

Fetty, 60, of Roselawn, announced he will retire as principal of Hanover Central High School in June following a 31-year stint at the school, 28 as principal and three as an assistant principal.

Fetty said he's going to miss the students and the many friends he has made in education.

Fetty was a music major and sang professionally and for sporting, educational and entertainment events in Lake and Porter counties prior to his days in education.

Fetty began his career as a teacher at Highland High School, before moving to Hanover Central as an assistant principal in 1980.

Fetty has met three generations of families over the years, and he said children are much the same as they've always been.

"Kids have always done fun, silly things, and they always will," he said.

"What has changed is reporting student progress, paperwork and accountability," Fetty said. "The paperwork and accountability has increased so much that it takes you away from the kids, and you often find that you're stuck behind a desk."

Karen Sullivan, of Cedar Lake, a custodian at Hanover Central High School, said she graduated from the school in 1982 and has two daughters who graduated from the school.

"Everyone is going to miss Mr. Fetty," Sullivan said. "When I was a student here, I remember they had a smoking lounge for the kids. That was one of the first things he got rid of."

Dale Waters, a Lake County juvenile probation officer, said he's never known anyone who has such an even temperament as Fetty.

"He has had a relaxed manner about himself -- even when dealing with difficult situations," Waters said.