Long Beach UPS driver Dean Lodge retires after 37 years

Dean Lodge has been a fixture in Long Beach for more than two decades, a friendly face who, his many clients and friends say, is as kind a person as he is a reliable delivery driver.

Now, after 37 years with UPS — including 26 spent serving as a delivery driver in the Long Beach community — Lodge, 62, has retired from the job he considers one of "the best things in my life."

Lodge, of Elmont, celebrated his recent retirement on Saturday with family and friends at Mareya, a Mexican restaurant in the heart of Long Beach.

"He's the best. He's so thoughtful. He knows all of his customers individually," said Sarah Monaghan, of Long Beach. "I feel like my friend is retiring, not my UPS guy."

Lodge grew up in Jamaica and moved with his family to New York in 1988. On June 12, 1989, he started working for UPS, doing a route on the West Side of Manhattan.

In 2000, he transferred from Manhattan to Long Beach, a move he credits with his long career with UPS.

"If I didn't move out here, maybe I wouldn't have been at UPS so long," he said. But he now counts the Long Beach community as one of "the best things that ever happened to me."

"They're the ones that keep me going," Lodge said.

Long Beach resident Suzanne St. Jacques said Lodge is a "neighborhood icon" who always has a smile on his face.

"He drives very cautiously, a big truck down a very narrow block," St. Jacques said. "He's aware that there's kids. … He knows the block. He knows us."

Collette Fung, Lodge's younger sister, said she did not know of his fame in the community before making her trip from her home in Illinois to New York for Saturday's party.

"But I'm not surprised, because we're all social butterflies," she added, although Lodge was the quietest one of the five siblings.

Monica Washington, Lodge's former supervisor at UPS for the last year, said Lodge is "irreplaceable." He acted as a mentor to younger drivers and like a "big brother" to her, she said.

Lodge said that when he first considered moving his route to Long Beach, he was warned about stepping into a predominantly white community.

"I never have a problem out here. These guys… treat me like their own, like their family," Lodge said.

Throughout his career in Long Beach, Lodge has become woven into the fabric of the community. He's been invited to block parties up and down the State Streets and has been featured in social media posts by local businesses.

In retirement, Lodge said he plans to take the summer off before returning to work — this time devoting more energy to a sprinkler and irrigation system business he's been running on the side for 20 years. And when he's not working, he can be found watching horses race at Belmont Park.

But a part of his heart will remain in Long Beach.

"I'm gonna miss my customers most of all," Lodge said.