Hippert Ready for Family Time After 11 Years with Whitehall Public Transportation

After more than a decade with Whitehall Public Transportation (WPT) and Liberty Place, Paula Hippert will bid farewell to her career on June 30, 2022, and begin to focus on retirement. Kind of.

"I'll still be here, just on the peripheral - I'll help out, but I'm not the boss anymore," Hippert said with a laugh. "Plus that's the end of our fiscal year, so Teresa [Oyama] is going to need some help!"

Hippert is a much appreciated and vital part of Whitehall Public Transportation operations and will be greatly missed; however, she said the Board of Directors has asked her to assist with grant writing, reporting, and, of course, moral support. All of which she is happy to do, while focusing more on her own free time and her fifteen grandchildren.

"I am looking foward to working/playing in my greenhouse and outside gardening. I'm going fishing and camping as much as possible and during the colder months I hope to get back on the sewing machine I put away a long time agao, as well as crafting."

Hippert explained that her path to Program Manager for WPT was not expected but much enjoyed.

"While working as an office assistant for Liberty Place Farmstead, Executive Director Ann Geiger approached me with the opportunity to join her on a journey to start a public transportation service," Hippert said. "The Whitehall Senior Center had decided to stop their own Whitehall Senior Transportation services and requested Liberty Place take it over. With no transportation company experience, this was a challenging, yet exciting, opportunity for both of us."

"When Liberty Place, Inc. took over the transportation program, Paula and I knew absolutely nothing about running it; we had to learn a whole new industry," Geiger said. "Dick Gustin was a great mentor, though, and helped us get established. As the program began to take hold, so did Paula and eventually, we knew she would make a great Transportation Program Manager."

Under Hippert's tutelage, the Whitehall Public Transportation program established itself in 2011 and is now reaching out to the community of Boulder, as it grows and grows within Whitehall.

When it began the fleet consisted of three small buses and two minivans, Dick Gustin as the one driver, Ann Geiger as the director, and Hippert as the dispatcher.

Fast forward to 2022 and their updated fleet consists of three accessible buses, three accessible minivans, three non-accessible minivans, and a new accessible Ford Transit van/bus is slated to arrive any day.

WPT now employs seven personnel who, as a team, dispatch, train, track maintenance, maintain the facility, and drive.

"My biggest accomplishment has been maintaining healthy, long-standing working relationships and friendships with several employees comprising the WPT personnel. Mutual respect for all has been the glue that has held this group together," Hipper said with a grin.

In 2019 the Transportation bus barn, named in Dick Gustin's honor, was opened.

"We are so proud of Paula and her many accomplishments in this role," Geiger added. "She continued to grow the program, and eventually, took on the huge project of getting the transportation facility built."

Teresa Oyama has been tapped to replace Hippert and Hippert is excited to see her flourish.

"My biggest desire is for Teresa and the Program to continue to expand with the same quality of service we are known for," Hippert said.

"Paula will be greatly missed, but we couldn't be happier for her to go into retirement with such a legacy. We are grateful for all of her hard work and devotion to Whitehall Public Transportation and to Liberty Place, too," Geiger said.

"I am so very thankful for Ann Geiger and Liberty Place Board for trusting me with the opportunity to manage the WPT services. This has been the most interesting and most fulfilling journey I could ever have imagined," Hippert said, adding that support from the Jefferson County Commissioners was very much appreciated as well.

Enjoy your retirement, Paula! It is well deserved.