Family members, friends, and two members of a volunteer telecommunications alumni charitable group gathered at Walley Street Beach on Tuesday afternoon to re-dedicate a memorial bench in honor of Marie Sullivan, a woman who retired in 1978 as the longest-tenured telephone company employee in the state with 47 years of service with the New England Telephone Co.

John Sullivan, Marie’s son, organized the heartfelt ceremony along with his wife, Christine, which was initiated after the original bench that was dedicated in honor of Marie after her retirement had fallen into disrepair.

Marie Sullivan passed away on April 4, 2009, but over 14 years later, her family legacy was clearly alive and well, judging from the number of family members who showed up to commemorate the occasion. Among them was Sullivan’s cousin, one of Bristol’s most famous 109-year-old residents, Genevieve Marszalek.

The new metal bench, with a plaque that implores visitors to “linger and enjoy the view”, was installed thanks to help from the Bristol Parks and Recreation Department and a volunteer group of former telephone company employees known as The Pioneers. Two representatives from The Pioneers drove up from Syracuse, N.Y. (where the nearest branch of their group resides), to take part in the ceremony.

“We were thrilled to be able to help with this,” said Terry Bailey, Vice President of the Pioneer’s Northeast region. “Marie had quite a bit of service.”

The Pioneers raised the money to purchase and help install the bench. The group is involved with several charitable endeavors throughout the United States and Canada, including educational outreach, making sandwiches for homeless shelters, and overseeing letter writing programs for active duty soldiers and retired veterans. The group had its first meeting in 1911, with Alexander Graham Bell as a charter member. Although the number of telecommunications employees has dwindled, their dedication to supporting retired members was on full display on Tuesday.

“She was an operator, and that’s where me and Rosemary [a fellow Pioneer who attended] started,” Bailey said. “The networking in the telephone industry, it’s not the same today, but it was just phenomenal. It was like a family. Some of my very dearest friends are from work, and I think it was the same way for Marie.”