People who worked with Tim Cypher have a lot of thoughts about the man and his work, which touched nearly every corner of Leelanau County and beyond.

The most common sentiment? This guy knew his stuff to an almost impossible degree.

“He knew our zoning ordinance better than I can imagine anyone could,” longtime former Leland Township clerk Jane Keen tells The Ticker. “He could quote things from that ordinance at the drop of a hat without ever batting an eye, and I never could understand how in the world he could do that having so many townships. I bet he knew theirs as well as he knew ours.”

Cypher, 73, died last week after a years-long struggle with cancer. Over the past few decades he served as zoning administrator (the person primarily responsible for enforcing zoning ordinances) for several communities, including but not limited to Leland, Centerville, Glen Arbor, Empire, Solon and Kasson townships in Leelanau County, along with the villages of Kingsley and Beulah.

Family and colleagues say he served upwards of eight municipalities at a time before scaling back to just four and working until only days before his death.

“I think he picked up the zoning administrator mantle for so many different townships because it really is a rare skill,” former Leland Township Supervisor Susan Och tells The Ticker. “It’s hard, and everybody’s zoning is different, but he was one of those rare people who actually geeked out on that stuff and knew it very well.”

Cypher was, for some communities, their first dedicated zoning administrator.

“He was the first professional that our township really had in that position. Before that, there was always just somebody in the community that would do that job,” former Centerville Township Supervisor Jim Schwantes tells The Ticker. “When life was a lot simpler, that was fine. But as life got more complicated, somebody like him (really helped).”

And indeed, life “Up North” has gotten complicated with more residents, more visitors and more development activity, much of which comes across the zoning administrator’s desk. Those who worked with Cypher spoke of his relentless attention to detail and devotion to fairness, even in situations that involved strong emotions or controversial developments.

“He was very meticulous, very procedure driven. He didn't take shortcuts, and a lot of people wanted shortcuts. And he was very fair; he saw things from both points of view,” Och says. “There were many times when I thought I had everything figured out, but he would point out the flaws in my thinking or how I hadn’t considered some unintended consequences.”

Griffin Cypher, Tim’s son, recalls his dad’s ability to hold the line in the face of what was, at times, tremendous pressure.

“My dad was really passionate about what he did, but it was a real thankless job. He took a lot of flak from a lot of people when they didn't get the result that they wanted, but he always made an effort to be by the book,” Griffin tells The Ticker. “He was super fair to everybody.”

Griffin, one of two Cypher boys, implored his father to retire earlier as his cancer worsened. He didn’t, but perhaps it worked out for the best.

“I firmly believe, and I know my whole family shares the sentiment, that the work that he was doing is what kept him around for so many bonus years,” Griffin says.

Skip Telgard, owner of Leland’s famous Blue Bird and a longtime Leland Township planning commissioner, said Cypher was a “wonderful, wonderful guy” who cared very much about township residents and was an invaluable resource to the planning commissions he worked with. These all-volunteer boards depend on good information to make good decisions, and they could always count on Cypher.

“He was just exactly the type of person you would want in that position,” Telgard tells The Ticker. “He was an absolute wealth of knowledge and the kind of guy I always looked to to answer one of the million questions that we all had. He really was our go-to guy, and filling his shoes is going to be extremely difficult.”

Steve Patmore is zoning adminstrator for Suttons Bay, Suttons Bay Township, Leelanau Township and Bingham Township. That's a lot of work, but it's still half of what Cypher had in his prime.

“Right now it’s a tough time and it’s busy, because everybody wants their permit, and there are people who argue that I can’t even handle four (townships),” Patmore says. “So I don’t know how (Tim) kept all of it straight."

Patmore says Cypher will be greatly missed.

“I have the utmost respect for Tim and the job he did, and a lot of admiration," he says. "He and I used to share a lot of war stories, and we bounced things off each other."