Many people dream of retiring to a Pacific island paradise. Tina Ramirez retired from one.
Ramirez most recently served as postmaster for the tiny island of Rota, the southernmost of the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. commonwealth, and returned to her home in Kansas City, MO.
“Transitioning from Kansas City to a tropical island was surreal and a bit of a culture shock. But the community took me in and made me one of their own,” she told the Saipan Tribune news outlet.
“I made friends here that I will keep for a lifetime” — friends who taught her how to fish in coral reefs, dive in the ocean and navigate through the jungle.
“I got to live an adventure straight out of a movie!”
Aubry Hocog, the mayor of Rota, marked the postmaster’s retirement with a splash, issuing a resolution honoring Ramirez for her 29 years of service with USPS, the last five in Rota.
“Words cannot express my gratitude,” Ramirez said.
No end in sight
Mera Cole, a labor relations specialist in contract administration at USPS headquarters in Washington, DC, has been with the organization for 50 years and counting.
“I decided I would stay through my anniversary date,” Cole said, “then take it one day at a time.”
That anniversary came and went this month and Cole shows no sign of slowing down.
What’s keeping her here? “I know my business, I know my profession, and I’m good at it,” she said.
Cole hails from a postal family: Her father, two sisters and two brothers all worked for USPS.
“This job has been good to me, and I’ve done right by the company,” Cole said. “I’m proud to be a postal employee.”
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