East Providence Senior Center Director to retire
EAST PROVIDENCE, RI – Robert “Bob” Rock, director of the East Providence Senior Center, will retire after serving the position for 21 years.
“It has been a distinct honor and privilege to have served you for the past 21 years,” Rock wrote in a note to seniors. “As in any great organization, when the person in charge surrounds him or herself with professional, compassionate, wonderful and caring people, the organization thrives.”
Rock has been director of the senior center since May 1998.
He started his term as director exactly one week after retiring from the East Providence Police Dept., where he worked 21 years.
Under Rock’s leadership, the center added a 5,500-square-foot addition and fitness room.
With this addition Rock was able to launch a number of programs including massage therapy and yoga.
“Bob Rock, together with a number of dedicated volunteers, have been the backbone of the Senior Center,” East Providence Mayor Bob DaSilva said. “We thank him for his more than two decades of service to our senior community and wish him well on his retirement.”
In recognition of Rock’s service to the senior center, DaSilva has asked the city council to pass a resolution that would rename the senior center as the “Robert E. Rock Senior Center.”
Rock credits the center’s success under his leadership to knowing how to meet members’ needs.
“They are their own community,” Rock said. “I have listened and I believe that I will leave this place better than the way I found it.”
Rock will remain director until a new director is appointed.
©WLNE-TV / ABC6 2019
