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RICHFIELD, Utah (KSL) — It was August 1949 when the U.S. Postal Service stopped using the train to deliver mail to Richfield and a 21-year-old kid made his first mail run in a delivery truck from Salt Lake back to his hometown.
That kid was Jack Lund who, at age 91, has decided it’s time to retire.
“No one's ever accused me of being smart, and I didn’t know you had to quit when you are 65. And I have enjoyed driving the truck, so it is what I wanted to do all my life,” Lund said.
For nearly 70 years, Lund has transported large bags of mail from Salt Lake to small rural post offices throughout Utah, and in the process put a lot of miles on the road.
“I would imagine about three and a half million,” he said.
Even though he was a contract worker for the Postal Service, Lund says he always honored the service's motto of “neither snow, nor rain” to keep the mail on schedule.
“I was headed for Phoenix one day and there was 4 feet of snow on the mountain south of Panguitch and the highway patrolman told me I couldn’t go. And I said, ‘This is a mail truck and you can’t stop me unless it’s impossible.’ And I fooled him, I guess, because he let me go,” he recounted.
Now Lund is parking his mail truck for the last time.
“A week ago last night, I hauled my last load of mail,” he said.
“No one's ever accused me of being smart, and I didn’t know you had to quit when you are 65. And I have enjoyed driving the truck, so it is what I wanted to do all my life.” — Jack Lund, who recently retired from the post office
A celebration from the Postal Service in Richfield recognized Lund's 69.5 years of dedication to delivering the mail to many small Utah towns.
“I haven’t made a lot of money, but I've made a good living. If I can live a few more years and enjoy life a little bit that will be fine. It will be different for me not having the responsibility of running the mail, but I think maybe I can handle it,” he said.
Lund's career is certain to go down in post office history.
