Postie Barbara White retires after 61 years

by Kris Svela

MARSVILLE

Barbara White isn’t certain whether she will keep getting up early each morning after retiring from her Canada Post carrier job after 61 years.

Co-workers, family, friends and customers converged on this tiny postal outlet Friday to bring well-wishes to the retiring postal worker on her final day.

During her lengthy career, White has seen a lot of changes in postal service. Many of those changes included family members who were also involved in the service.

“My grandfather brought the mail from Guelph to Erin on the stage coach,” she recalled of the earliest recollections of family members who have worked at the post ofice.

She also recalls when mail was delivered via train from Orangeville.

Her mother, Annie Mae Houston, was a post mistress near Camp Borden, her father Ross delivered mail in the Alton area and her brother Jim worked for the postal service in Ottawa for 28 years. White served three post mistresses during her tenure at Marsville.

Wellington-Halton Hills MPP Ted Arnott also showed up at the postal station to offer his congratulations.

“I’ve delivered lots of your flyers,” White told the MPP when he arrived.

“Then it’s about time I came to see you,” Arnott said.

White’s son Rick, a courier driver from Calgary, made a trip to join his mother at the surprise retirement party the evening before. To keep his arrival a secret, he phoned to congratulate his mother on his cell phone, telling her he had to use his cell because telephone service in Calgary was out. White’s daughter Cathie Keeler, of Orton, also joined in the celebration.

“I just wonder where the time has gone,” White said. “I don’t know how many cars I went through.”

When she started in 1951 she had one route with about 100 customers. Eventually she would take over two other routes as postal workers retired.

She combined her delivery schedule with a bus route she also drove in the early mornings and late afternoons. Mail delivery took about 90 minutes each day, depending on volume.

“You might get your mail today, or you might not,” she joked as the surprise party got underway on Sept. 14.

She plans to take daily walks with a group of girlfriends she affectionately calls the “Belwood ladies,” and continue organizing and playing euchre.

White will also miss working with her postal colleagues, a group that has worked well together, she said.

September 21, 2012