As customers loaded groceries into cars at the Shaw’s parking lot in Fort Eddy Plaza, Ricky Tewksbury circulated to round up scattered shopping carts. People waved at his approach, greeting him by name and stopped to chat for a few minutes.

He amassed a line of carts and pushed them into one of the corrals before scouting for more to be returned. It’s a routine he’s honed over the past four decades that he has worked at the grocery store, easily his favorite place for as long as he can remember.

“I just know I like to be there and that’s it,” said Tewksbury.

Tewksbury experienced a brain injury at birth that led to a developmental disability. Doctors told his family early on that they should send him to the Laconia State School, a state-run institution for children and adults with disabilities. Tewksbury’s parents refused and raised their son in Concord, determined to give him the best life they could.

He started pushing shopping carts at age 12 and was hired by Shaw’s when he was in his late 20s. Now, with the store slated to close in mid-April, the 69-year-old Tewksbury must say goodbye to the job and the people he’s come to love.

“They’ve been nice to me,” he said. “I like to be there and I like to know the people.”

The store is selling merchandise at 70% off, trying to get rid of everything it can before the final day on Friday, April 11. The closure means early retirement for Tewksbury, who was originally set to retire after hitting 40 years in the fall.

While Shaw’s offered him a job at their location in the Heights, he and his family decided it wouldn’t work for him to transition to a new work environment.

“It would have meant an entirely new routine that could be dangerous,” said his sister, Dorothy Steenbeke. “It’s a really heavy traffic parking lot with lots of cars. He’s so close to retirement. He wouldn’t have the same bosses, wouldn’t have the same direction. They wouldn’t be looking out for him in the same way.”

His family said Shaw’s has looked out for Tewksbury since he started.

“In the summertime, they only allow him out so long and then he comes in and they hand him water,” said his brother-in-law, Edward Steenbeke. “They make sure he’s hydrated. In the winter, they bring him back in and make sure he warms up before he goes back out again.”

Tewksbury’s sister said he first began at the store through an employment program that eventually ended. When that happened, Shaw’s reaffirmed its dedication to creating job opportunities and its desire to keep Tewksbury on the staff. He experienced bullying growing up and the job proved to be a source of empowerment for him.

“We have come a long way,” Dorothy Steenbeke said. “Places like Shaw’s in Concord have played a huge role in that. Forty years ago it was unheard of to work in public.”

Tewksbury said the people he works with feel like family. He mentioned that his colleagues get him a cake each year on his birthday and celebrate every work milestone with him. He even received a shopping cart trophy to commemorate his 25th anniversary at Shaw’s. To this day, it remains one of his prized possessions. Every five years, the company bestows him with a pin. He now has a drawer full amassed in his many decades on the job.

Tewksbury’s face breaks into a smile when he talks about collecting carts.

“I line them up and take as many as I can at a time,” he said. “And then I go get some more.”

He also notes where cars park when customers arrive and automatically memorizes people’s license plates. Whenever someone can’t quite remember where they parked, Tewksbury always knows.

“If they have a new car and try to fool me, I found it. A new car. I found it anyway,” he said with a laugh. “They said, ‘I don’t even know the license number. How do you?’ I say, ‘I have it in my head somewhere.’ ”

When the store announced its impending closure, Tewksbury went home and cried. The Monitor reached out to the store’s corporate office but they declined the request for an interview.

“It will leave a gap in his life,” said his friend and former speech therapist Janet Jillette, who met Tewksbury when he was 14. Jillette, now in her 80s, views him as “another son.”

“He’s a people person. He just enjoys talking with people and being around people,” she said. “He is a hard worker. He’s really dedicated. He was always dedicated to his job. He was always friendly and pleasant to people, and I think that’s a really important attribute for someone who is working in the public sector.”

Since he won’t get to reach the official 40-year mark, Shaw’s presented Tewksbury with his 40-year pin several months in advance. He was so excited that he went home and immediately called his sister and brother-in-law.

He’s going to miss his routine of waking up, watching Good Morning America, taking Concord Area Transit’s paratransit bus to work, eating his morning muffin, spending several hours in the parking lot with the carts and customers and then returning home to do puzzles and word search puzzles before watching the news.

After retiring, Tewksbury said he wants to spend more time with family – he has 15 grand-nieces and grand-nephews – do more word puzzles, walk around downtown Concord and be outside.

His final day at Shaw’s looms as the shelves grow emptier. When it comes time for him to collect the final cart, he knows what he wants to tell his customers and colleagues.

“I’ll say thank you,” he said.

Rachel Wachman can be reached at rwachman@cmonitor.com.