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DECEMBER 25 - 31, 2025
VOL. 60 NO. 52
HERALD PERSON OF THE YEAR BOB TRANSOM
The quiet heart of Oceanside What’s INSIDE
From Schoolhouse Green to the food pantry, Bob Transom’s influence reaches every corner of town By Abigail Grieco
Island Park PTA hosted its first-ever health fair. Page 7
Oceanside resident revealed sweet TV success at 55. Page 9
OceanCon marked eight years of whimsical fun. Page 16
If you want to understand Bob Transom, you must start with guidance he has carried with him since childhood: “You have not lived until you have done something for someone who could never repay you.” He first heard the aphorism while sitting in a coffee shop with his mother when he was young. She would bring a notepad with her, and at the bottom of each page, there would be a quote. That one has stuck with him, even decades later. e is our “If you think about it, if you really live by it,” Transom, 72, said, chokunsung ing up, “it can bring tears to your eyes. hero. He’s That’s all I want to do.” selfless, That simple sentence has shaped a lifetime of quiet service — one that has unassuming, left an indelible mark on Oceanside, empathetic. He often without anyone knowing who is responsible for one good deed or just loves the another. For all he has done over the community. years, the Herald is proud to name Transom its 2025 Person of the Year. SANDIE SCHOELL He has spent most of his life doing exactly what those words call for: help- Fellow Oceanside ing without keeping score, giving with- Community Service volunteer and Kiwanis out recognition and working behind the scenes to make his town better. He member and his wife, Betsy, have been married for nearly 40 years, and together they have built not only a family — sons Michael, Christopher and Craig — but also a legacy of service that touches nearly every corner of Oceanside. Perhaps the most visible symbol of their work is Schoolhouse Green, a serene community space that exists today because the Transoms refused to let a forgotten piece of land remain forgotten. The property was once home to School No. 1. When the building was torn down, its concrete foundation was left behind — an eyesore with no clear future. The Transoms took it upon themselves to change that. “I had the idea, and he made it happen,” Betsy said. In 1999, Bob and fellow designed and planned a public
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green, removing the concrete, installing sprinklers and laying sod. Schoolhouse Green now features a gazebo, a Sept. 11 memorial garden, a brick-paved “memory lane,” a flagpole and light and luxuriant grass and trees. Transom maintains the green by himself, repairing the gazebo, tending the garden and keeping the space immaculate — funding its upkeep out of his own pocket. “He does all of this, and you never even see him,” Tony Iovino, assistant director of the Oceanside Library and a fellow member of the Board of Education and the Kiwanis Club, said. “He is the most humble and generous person I think I’ve ever met. He does what needs to be done without, asking for any kind of fame.” That quiet presence defines Transom’s approach to every aspect of his life. Raised in East Oceanside, he enlisted in the U.S. Army after high school and served from 1972 to 1978, first in the Army Security Agency and then in the reserves, before being honorably discharged. He earned a degree in sociology from Campbell College, now Campbell University, in North Carolina. He often says he didn’t truly begin volunteering until he was working in real estate property management for RD ManageContinued on page 2 Alice Moreno/Herald
For Bob Transom, nothing gets in the way of his commitment to Oceanside, its residents and its future.