Richfield Man Retires From Mail Delivery At Age 91

RICHFIELD, Utah – 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 today at age 91, has decided it’s time to retire.

“Nobody has 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, and I have enjoyed driving the truck,” 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 it is about three-and-a-half million,” he said.

Even though he was always a contract worker for the postal service, Lund says he always honored the post office motto of “neither snow, nor rain…” to keep the mail on schedule.

“I was headed for Phoenix one day and there was four 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, Jack is parking his mail truck for the last time.

“A week ago last night, I hauled my last load of mail,” he said.

Earning him a celebration from the postal service at the Richfield Post Office, recognizing his 69 and a half years of dedication, helping to get the mail delivered to many small Utah towns.

“I haven’t made a lot of money, but I have made a good living, and if I can live a few more years and enjoy life that will be fine, it will be different without the responsibility of hauling the mail but I think I can handle it,” he quipped.

A career that is certain to go down in post office history.