Little, who retired in 2006, died recently. He was 85.
View full sizeJohn McCann, left, former manager of the Easton Social Security office, jokes with Ray Little, who was the office's public affairs representative, by displaying an old photograph of Little shortly before Little's retirement in 2006. Excuse the delay, but I was out of town when I read April 18 about the passing of Raymond J. Little.
If you are 65 or younger, or you have not needed assistance via the Social Security Administration for Social Security disability or other entitlements, chances are you never heard of Ray Little.
He died at age 85 and was retired since 2006 from Social Security. He worked out of the federal agency's Easton office.
However, for many people around here, he was the face of Social Security. When I covered consumer issues, I used to kiddingly refer to him as “Mr. Social Security.”
As a public affairs representative, he believed in helping people in any way he could in getting the benefits rightfully owed to them. If consumers from Northampton, Warren and Hunterdon counties had a problem, Little was often called into the fray. And he answered clients’ calls — every call.
He also stood up for the agency, arguing often in The Express-Times that Social Security would be there for generations to come. Yet, he wasn’t just cheerleading for the government. He believed the public deserved accurate information just as much as they merited quick responses about any snags with their benefits.
Little, like many other Social Security employees I have had the chance to meet and sometimes work with on stories, would not be lumped in the category of faceless, uncaring government bureaucrats.
He believed in face-to-face contact with beneficiaries. His obituary said so, and I experienced it firsthand.
I believe Little would have adapted to today’s social media, Twitter and other instruments of communication. But face-to-face, or at least older forms of direct contact, would still have been his first choice to communicate.
Unfortunately, in today’s era of Internet searches, smartphones, etc., face-to-face communication and assistance has been abandoned for doing things with more “efficiencies,” or whatever it is government leaders and corporate CEOs want.