Wirtz found his dream job working for the city

Not many students can say they get to walk into work every day in the heart of Fort Wayne and Allen County government, but Truman Wirtz has gained a reputation for being earnest, efficient, and for handling some dirty jobs.

No, the Purdue University Fort Wayne senior is not a politician but rather an intern in the City Utilities engineering department. For six hours each day, the business economics major works on mapping public infrastructure projects such as water and sewer mains and storm lines.

In other words, Wirtz provides and updates the maps for everything buried beneath Fort Wayne’s streets. His work enables field workers to access the maps digitally on site to see what they might encounter when building and repairing streets.

“Construction relies heavily on Geographic Information System-mapped assets and information as we oversee construction activities in the field,” said Eric Ruppert, senior program manager of construction and Wirtz’s supervisor. “In turn, once construction is complete, the construction group sends drawings to GIS for mapping new assets.”

The office also collaborates to review older mapped assets and update them with newer, better-quality information. It’s important but easily overlooked work—at least by everyone driving above ground.

“Truman has a very strong work ethic and is very deliberate in his thoughts and actions,” Ruppert said. “I believe PFW has done an outstanding job at preparing Truman for this position, as well as any future position he pursues. He is always a positive, energetic person willing to work through anything.”

He’s so good at it that when Wirtz’s internship was supposed to end, his bosses asked him to stay on.
After working six hours each weekday, Wirtz returns to campus for afternoon and evening classes.

“Probably the biggest thing for me is I like to have my work help other people,” Wirtz said. “That’s something I just really enjoy.”

City Utilities and the City of Fort Wayne recently honored Wirtz with the Mayor Tom Henry Scholarship because of his high grade point average and dedication to community service.

He wants to make a difference, as shown by his volunteer efforts outside of work. Wirtz is known for helping out on projects at his church and a local elementary school, and recently visited Guatemala with a church group that included Kevin Stoller, a communications senior lecturer and instructional consultant with PFW’s Center for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching. Wirtz is friends with Stoller’s sons.

“Truman has a huge heart!” Stoller said. “He’s always advocating for the underdog, and loves kids and helping people. He continues to give back by coaching and helping kids at our church. A great all-around kid.”

Wirtz showed that during the trip to Guatemala. Whenever he wasn’t helping drill wells for water or pitching in on painting and other odd jobs, he enjoyed playing soccer with the village’s youths.

“I got smoked by kids a third my age,” Wirtz said with a laugh. “It was a lot of fun.”

While his NFL dreams ended because of high school knee injuries, Wirtz gained experience with drilling and other forms of dirty work. His first jobs included working for a sewer company, digging trenches and wells and maneuvering into crawl spaces to scoop with his hands.

That encouraged him to look for an inside position after hearing about openings at City Utilities. Now Wirtz is thinking about using his experience to pursue a data analysis position when he graduates in December 2026.

“I’ve had this internship for over a year now, and it makes sense now why they do this or that,” Wirtz said. “Some of the details seem pointless, but you have to plan for the worst options, even though 99% of the time it’s not going to happen.”

Wirtz said some of what he has learned on the job reinforces the lessons he’s experienced at PFW, including the importance of work ethic, coachability, and professionalism.

“We just want people to come in and work,” he said. “You have to have that drive, because they can teach you everything else.”