It happened to me, too, Steve. I trained a bright young man (23 years old) in about 1997, and I could see he was headed to the top. Sure enough, he became a manager in less than five years, just a while after I retired.
I was a "shining star" when I started work in the 1970s, the youngest employee in the country to be in charge of a field office of my government agency. But I didn't like the politics of management, so I remained a working "officer in charge" and decided not to become a manager. I'm glad I didn't. I liked the work but didn't like management.

-Joe-