The responsibility for coordinating and overseeing these counselors is that of Retirement Counselor Supervisor Marianne Gebert, who at age 41, has been with the Board for twenty years.

After receiving a communications degree from Boston College Gebert, then Marianne Walsh, was first hired by Treasurer Bob Crane to work in the Board's refund department.

"My dad, Albert Walsh, went to school in Brighton with Bob. At age 18, dad fought on Iwo Jima with the 4th Marine Division. Bob was also Marine. I guess you could say that helped me get started," Gebert acknowledged.

In the years since starting with the job, Gebert has earned her stripes. "I started under Jim Callanan, who was the Board's director. He was a taskmaster who insisted on a good day's work," she said. "But he was very loyal to the employees and really a soft-hearted man."

During the Shannon O'Brien Administration, Gebert has served under Ellen Philbin, the Board's director for the past three years. "Ellen is a no-nonsense woman who is respectful of the employees and any suggestions they may have. The lines of communication are open and clear at all times," said Gebert.

Gebert agrees that working as a counselor is indeed a sensitive job. "If an employee is nearing retirement he or she needs accurate pension information. That employee is planning for the future based on his pension and survivor's options. And this is only one aspect of our extensive retirement law that our counselors must be familiar with. Counselors are dealing with employees' lives," she pointed out.

"The option that a retiree selects for a surviving spouse must be very clear to both parties. We do everything possible to ascertain that the spouse understands what his or her benefits will be (or not be) in the event of death.

"The training of our counselors is ongoing. They must stay current with any changes in the retirement law, both for employees and retirees. And counselors must be clear, concise and patient when interacting with the members of the system."

Gebert also stressed the extensive outreach program conducted by the Board.

"When asked, we will send counselors to any agency to meet with employees on a group or individual basis. We bring a laptop and if the agency's phone system is compatible, can access anyone's records at the Board."

Bob Minue, deputy director of the State Board, started work the same month and year as Gebert. "Marianne's career at the Board has paralleled mine," he said. "She's been a credit to our Retirement Board and our counseling program is in good hands. And being relatively young she'll be around for many more years."

"Well, because of our Group 1 retirement formula, Bob is right in that sense," said Marianne. "People who do enter service at a young age are penalized under the current formula. But there is always hope for change."

Since she, by her own words, "really loves" her job, and retirement is a long way off, state retirees can count on Marianne being around for awhile at least.