For years, residents looking for a helping hand have turned to Maureen Volpe, the director of Human Services for Warwick. The 63-year-old Volpe has worked for the city in different capacities for 24 years and is credited by many for making the Human Services easier to navigate.

“Maureen had the ability to pull all the necessary people into a room with our state partners and figure out how, once we get a family, to get them the help they need,” said Mayor Scott Avedisian. “It was one-stop shopping.”

Volpe retired recently and left with a bang at a retirement party last Thursday at The Remington House Inn. The party, which also celebrated the retirement of Patty Martucci from the Pilgrim Senior Center, was well attended by city employees who have come to appreciate her approach to finding help for families.

“With grace and dignity she handled every family that walked through the door, recognizing that each situation is unique and that’s what I’ll always remember about her,” said co-worker Patricia St. Amant.

Volpe, who started as a secretary, said it was the people she worked with – and for – that made her time in Warwick pleasant.

“I loved working in Warwick. Everybody was very nice to me,” she said, adding that she has loved interacting with residents on a daily basis. “The people that I met in Warwick – they all became friends.”

Volpe’s parents seconded that notion at the party and her father, John Volpe, said there isn’t anything his daughter doesn’t do.

“She loves Warwick and the people in it. She’s been a great, great worker and is always concerned when things aren’t going right,” he said.

Among her many commitments, Volpe worked with Westbay Community Action and the Disability Commission. She also developed the Homeless Council in Warwick and participated in the Juvenile Hearing Board in an administrative capacity.

Of the challenges, she said assisting families with mortgage payments was difficult but the payoff was worthwhile.

“Warwick is a very nice place for seniors, the schools – it’s just a very good place,” she said.

The feeling is reciprocated. St. Amant called Volpe “one of the most compassionate, lighthearted people I ever knew.”

“Always had a smile and a kind word,” she said.

For the time being, Avedisian said Volpe’s position will not be filled but responsibilities will be shifted in the department so that St. Amant and Roberta Speinle will make up the difference.

As for Volpe, she says she doesn’t have too much planned for retirement but looks forward to that – and avoiding the commute from Jamestown.

“I’m not going to get a job, go out with friends whenever I want and sleep late.

I’m just going to have a good time,” she said.