is something I did, and I enjoyed it,'' he said. Krasnansky, the former McKesson vice president, started an environmental group, the Sears Point Yellow Flag Alliance, which is fighting the encroachment of a speedway into the California wine country. Richard Ronk, 66, of Fairfax, Va., a former deputy director of the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition at the Food and Drug Administration, said that he has several hundred e-mail addresses of old friends from the food industry, and corresponds regularly.īut for many, retirement is more about beginning relationships than keeping up old ones. OF course, retired people have plenty of Internet relationships that require nothing as organized as a forum or a chat room. Membership in the Pioneers means that ''no matter where I go in the United States, I have a friend,'' she said. Beedle, who retired in 1994 from the technical staff of U.S. This is 2019 and we’re all anxious about something, including a 15-second chat with Janet from accounting about how freaking cold the A/C is in the conference room. ''You miss the interaction with other people with common interests,'' said Ms. ''They get to stay connected and they get to brag on accomplishments,'' said Irene Chavira of Albuquerque, the organization's president, who herself plans to retire in December.įor Lois Beedle, 57, of Seattle, who runs a forum for Pioneers on the ThirdAge Web site, the group offers a chance to connect with people from the same industry she spent her career in, even if she didn't work with them day to day. Local chapters hold luncheons and dances and send newsletters that advise members of births, deaths and other news involving phone company retirees. Perhaps the world's largest group for people who have worked in the same industry is the Telephone Pioneers of America, an 800,000-member organization of past and current telephone company employees.