TimBob:
An FO I flew with several months ago told me about a similar "retirement event"
The FO said that he told a Base Manager type at a northern crewbase, maybe two or three hours or more, before the guy's last flight inbound.
Nobody showed up, so the guy hurried to his commuter flight home, in order to not be hanging around a few more hours.
This seems a bit unusual here. Even with very short staffing (no more check-in people the last two years or so), it was surprising to hear about it.