At her retirement party Tuesday morning Bridget Tobin stood by the door of the Oak Bluffs ferry terminal in her red coat and red clogs greeting people with the same warm smile that has embraced passengers at the ferry terminals for 44 years.
The long line of well wishers started at 9 a.m. and continued throughout the morning as friends and coworkers streamed in to say goodbye.
“My late husband Charlie called her The Tobin Bridge,” said Kate Taylor. “She’s a facilitator of getting people to and from the Island, and a bridge between the SSA and the community. There’s only one Bridget.”
For some, Ms. Tobin’s kindness stretched far beyond just greeting passengers and taking tickets.
“She was my savior six years ago,” said Gretchen Coleman-Thomas.
Ms. Coleman-Thomas said that while she received dialysis treatment for her kidneys she had to take the ferry to a treatment center off-Island three times a week. She said when Ms. Tobin found out, she gave her a pass to park in a reserved spot at the Vineyard Haven ferry terminal for each appointment to make her journey as comfortable as possible.
“She’s been my rock and I love her like a family member,” Ms. Coleman-Thomas said. “I knew I had to come. I adore her. She’s a wonderful human being.”
Near the ticket window, people lined up to sign a giant retirement card that read: “Enjoy your retirement, you’ve earned it!”
On the card notes were written to Ms. Tobin, often sharing common sentiments about her sharp memory for names and her genial personality.
“She knows everybody’s name, knows your story and always smiles when she greets you,” said Joyce Albertine. She added that Ms. Tobin was the first person she met when she moved to the Island 40 years ago.
“She’s the nicest person and a great face for the SSA,” said Denys Wortman, who gifted Ms. Tobin a photograph of the Island Home ferry replacing the Islander ferry in 2007, titled Changing of the Guards.
SSA general manager Robert Davis praised Ms. Tobin for her decades of service to the ferry, including as manager of the Oak Bluffs terminal. He said that Ms. Tobin always made sure the first face visitors saw when they arrived on the Island was a friendly one.
“It’s going to be sad to see her go,” he said. “The compassion she brings to the job . . . we want to make sure that legacy continues.”
Though she plans to return to work in the summers, Ms. Tobin said that saying goodbye to all of the countless passengers she’s greeted and formed friendships with has made the retirement process difficult.
“It’s so emotional and surreal,” she said. “You get so attached to the people. You watch them grow up and have a personal relationship.”
Ms. Tobin said she plans to travel during her retirement and find new outlets on the Island where she can help those in need. She said her wonderful SSA staff and helping people transition between the Island and the mainland are what she’ll miss most about the job.
As the morning progressed the line of hugs continued and the goodbye card filled up with hundreds of notes. One stuck out, an encapsulation of Ms. Tobin’s impact on the community: “You are one of a kind.”
From the archives: A Day With Bridget Tobin.
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