Letter carrier reflects on 35-year career

Sue Perez is retiring after 35 years with the U.S. Postal Service.

She has been a letter carrier in Sparta, a safety captain, and a safety and driver training instructor.

She started as a letter carrier in West Caldwell in Essex County. She was hired at age 20 after attending business school.

Perez then was given the responsibility of being a safety captain. In that role, she checked safety concerns in buildings and streets while making deliveries.

After 12 years as a letter carrier and safety captain, she was asked to teach new workers about the job as a safety and driver training instructor for the Postal Service’s Northern District in Jersey City.

“I felt especially great when I was doing the instructor academy because you actually see the new people coming in. We start off young in the post office and many aspire to be more. Some of them are (now) actually management. I love that.”

Her favorite part of the job was interacting with the people to whom she delivered mail over the years and see their families grow up.

“I’ve watched children grow up and actually see them from birth until high school, go to college, come back home. Some of them actually buy the house.”

Her husband, Fred, said, “Sue has always been a very social person, talking with almost anyone that crosses her path.”

One of the most difficult times for all letter carriers was during the anthrax attacks in 2001, when letters containing deadly anthrax spores were mailed throughout the country, Sue Perez said.

However, she continued her work because she loved it so much.

“You have to love your job to commit to doing it for 35 years. You can’t just go to a job every single day if you hate it. You have to love your job, love what you’re doing and love your co-workers. They become your family.”

In retirement, she will have more time for herself, but she expects it be a big adjustment.

“It has been 35 years, and that’s half of my life. It’s everything that I’ve been doing, so I’m just figuring it out.”