Bea vonTobel has a few things on her to
do list: spend more time with her wife Cindy Elliott, renovate her
kitchen and bathroom, revamp her deck and build a plane.
After 13 years as Airport Manager vonTobel, shown right, is retiring.
“By the time I walk out the door I’ll be
72,” said vonTobel. “I want to find out what I want to be when I grow
up. The Peter Pan complex is alive and well with me.”
Thirty-two applicants presented their
resumes to the port commissioners in hopes of winning what vonTobel
calls the best job on the island.
After a public meeting on Thursday night
port commissioners selected Anthony “Tony” Simpson as their top choice
and elected him as the new manager.
“Tony’s education and experience will serve him well in his new position,” wrote vonTobel in a press release.
Simpson is a native of Delaware and a
graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, with graduate
degrees from the
University of Washington and the Naval Postgraduate School. He has
20-plus years of experience in operations in Afghanistan, Korea and
Japan. He will finish his current position as a technical training
expert for Boeing Aerospace Operations based at Misawa Airbase in Japan
later this month and return to Orcas , where his family lives now.
His return to the island completes the
circle for his wife, the former Blythe Stephens, and their two children.
She is employed in the OASIS program of the Orcas Island School
District.
vonTobel said Simpson will have plenty to keep him busy at his new position.
“You’re on the job everyday learning.
There is so much variety and you have intellectual challenges and
problem solving inside and outdoors,” she said.
vonTobel added that she has worked on many different levels at the airport from finance to communicating with the public to working with the port commissioners who she describes as “absolutely wonderful.”
She started working as manager in 2000
after a career at Orcas Island School District as the K- 12 counselor.
Before that she worked in construction and at the golf course.
Some of the projects she looks back on
with pride during her time as airport manager are putting up the fence,
improving lighting and signage, installing a weather reporting system
and storm water upgrades. Some projects are left to be finished by the
new manager like the moving of a taxi way six feet to the east to allow
more distance separation for aircraft.
She calls the job really a Chief Factotum
position where one has to do everything and anything. But she said work
is made simpler thanks to Facility Manager James Reid.
“He is mechanically minded and creative,” she said. “He is a great asset and is taking on more and more responsibility.”
Although vonTobel is leaving the airport
she will not lose her love of planes. As a pilot she appreciates the
work that goes into creating such an aircraft, which is why she has
plans to build one. Her dream is to get a project started at the school
to build the plane with students.
“It’s a great skill and I know in the future there will be pilot and mechanic shortages,” she said.
It’s clear whatever vonTobel will do next, it will keep her busy.
Story and Photo: http://www.islandssounder.com
Story and Photo: http://www.islandssounder.com
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