Wynn tended the patch in the mornings and laid out its bounty on break-room tables for state workers to take home.

"He said they needed a little help," said Earl Dorius, who has worked with Wynn for the past 18 years. "He is loved by the staff."

In the public eye, Wynn has been quietly at the center of Utah's complex and contentious liquor-control system for three decades - overseeing a host of changes from diners having to fetch their own minibottles of liquor stored behind restaurant counters to servers selling glasses of wine by the glass. Annual liquor sales have increased tenfold since Wynn's appointment, to $200 million.

Wynn, 71, leaves his post today after 30 years. That makes him the state's longest serving director among all current state appointees, officials say. He is expected to be replaced by Dennis Kellen, 64, whose tenure as the department's No. 2 man actually exceeds his boss's by two years.

When Wynn took over as director in 1977, lawmakers had changed the state's liquor laws radically. Back then, customers at state-run liquor stores filled out cards to buy bottles of wine or spirits, inscribing numbers assigned to hundreds of brands scattered on tables in the front of liquor stores. Clerks then brought out bottles from curtained rooms. Some patrons saved time by memorizing their choices, often dubbed as personal, favorite numbers.

During Wynn's tenure, self-service stores also began to accept checks and credit cards.

At the time, lawmakers also had abolished a full-time liquor commission after a series of financial shenanigans, replacing it with a part-time board. Wynn brought a low-key approach to the department, a style that stayed consistent throughout his tenure. This month's announcement of his retirement was no exception: It was released when he was out of town, fishing.

"He's been wise to keep his department out of the spotlight because issues having to do with liquor can be negative," said liquor commissioner Larry Lunt. "But to do that, he's also had to keep himself out of the spotlight as well."

Wynn declined to be interviewed. His decision to leave followed Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.'s decision not to reappoint three of five liquor commissioners when their terms expire at the end of next month. A Huntsman spokeswoman said the three had served multiple terms and it was time for change.

Wynn's tenure also was marked by personal tragedies whose effects spilled into his job performance.

Although he drank alcoholic beverages in his younger days, Wynn entered his job with the state as a non-drinking Mormon. He had quit drinking after his son David, the eldest of five children, was mortally injured in a toboggan accident. Wynn told associates he grew closer to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - which eschews alcohol - while his son lay comatose for eight months.

But then Wynn's 34-year-old son Brian died in 1994 from complications of AIDS. Five years later, Wynn unexpectedly lost his wife Verna, who died after contracting pneumonia.

His wife's death coincided with a state audit that found wrongdoing in department accounting practices and criticized Wynn's loose management. Wynn also was accused of making inappropriate comments to workers, which he attributed to a drinking bout and "fighting my own demons" after his wife's passage.

More importantly, the audit led to charges against the department's former financial manager, Richard Warren Pearson, who was later sentenced to 150 days in jail and ordered to repay $131,500 allegedly stolen from state coffers. Investigators said the department's fiscal controls were either lacking or not followed.

Despite those travails, Dorius said Wynn "never missed work . . . He's a strong man."

Earlier this year, Wynn was quick to defend some Alcoholic Beverage Control staff members who had retired, drawn benefits and gone back to work - even after the corrections chief had been fired for defending a similar practice at the state prison.

Wynn insisted the employees were forced to retire after lawmakers ended a 20-year-old policy of allowing state workers to trade unused sick leave for retirement benefits.

"Employees knew Wynn would take care of them," said Lou Bertram, who teaches liquor-control classes. "And he's never been at odds with a single commission."

Wynn did not attend the June 20 commission meeting when the board accepted his letter of resignation. His last request was that the board term his departure a retirement - a status not accorded to appointees.

Commissioners honored that request, unanimously accepted his "resignation for purposes of retirement."

dawn@sltrib.com