By Paul Leighton
BEVERLY — When Tom Healey retired from his job as a machinist 27 years ago, he landed a nice "retirement job" as the mailman at City Hall.
Now that he's 94, he figures it's time to retire from his retirement job, too.
Friends, family and co-workers gathered at City Hall yesterday afternoon to pay tribute to Healey, the soft-spoken mailman who delivered as many smiles as letters over the years. Connie Linscott, the assistant purchasing director, said you could always hear Healey coming because he'd be whistling a tune.
"He has been so faithful," Linscott said. "And always cheerful."
Healey worked for 35 years as a boss at Ruggles & Klingman Machinery in Salem, where he grew up. When he retired, he would fill in occasionally delivering the mail inside Beverly City Hall. When the regular mailman quit, Healey took over and never left.
"Because it was such a nice, easy job," he said when asked why he stayed so long. "I enjoy coming in here, to tell you the truth. I knew everybody's name. Nobody ever had a complaint."
Healey was the first one at City Hall most days, arriving before 7 a.m. If it had snowed, Healey would shovel the front steps. If a lightbulb was out, he'd change it.
Healey, who served as an Air Force mechanic during World War II, is still in good shape at 94. He plays golf and did a little skiing this winter. If it were up to him, he'd probably keep working, but his wife, Agnes, had other ideas.
"My mother decided," said Terry Healey, one of their five sons. "She wants him home."
Mayor Bill Scanlon called Healey "a man of letters" and described him as "always cheerful, always with a smile and always here."
Firefighter Jack Morris paid tribute to Healey as the oldest person ever to work for the city of Beverly.
"And I don't think anybody's going to break your record," Morris said.
