HomeMy WebLinkAboutRobert Nail, Euless Postmaster Life
as
i .
0 I 1 d 0 - - ess, TX,
In Honor of
ti ail
try p rxtta in
}Fakxuary 1,1949
,1Ove )r 14,19Ft()
The UPMA National Office recently contacted retired Post-
master Robert Nail to confirm his address and that he want-
li ed to continue receiving UPMA PMA Leader; he joined
v "' ` - ' ' — ' v- He landed on Okinawa Easter
Y____ morning,April 1, 1945,as part
1 11 `T +- 1 of e 1st Division,5th Regi- 1
Retired Postmaster Robert Nail stands behind the l
ment Weapons Company.He
t
window of the replica of the first Euless,TX, Post ` was one of the fortunate ones
Office on display at the Euless Heritage Museum. 1regiment
in his
rMarine Co psdrepat repatriation father on duties in China,my
_ returned home from the war in 1946.He and my mother went
20 June 2017/UPMA LEADER UPMA LEADER/June 2017 21
back to school;they received _ My favorite is when the Euless
their degrees.My father joined _ Post Office was in its first free
my grandfather and grandfa- standing location,surrounded by
ther's brother as part owners in a lawn.There was no budget for
Fuller Brothers and Nail Groceryatsi al +''I
in Euless,TX.The grocerystore CI* i1 <<i 4u upkeep,so my father and his
]lii rural route carrier took care of
was in the center of the commu- the lawn when they had time.
nity.
They were working on the yard
1'
There was no local mail one day and needed something
service then;you had to go to 1 to knock down the weeds.My fa-
II
Arlington—quite a few miles r ther asked the carrier to go to
away.In 1949,a postal inspector 1 our house (about three blocks 1
walked into the grocery store
-_: .,:: away) and get the tool they need-
and asked if anyone wanted to be Retired Postmaster Robert Nail ed.He told the carrier to go
Postmaster.Myfather,
r,thinking holds his commission. through the back gate,saying,
he could do the job,as well as his "The dog is harmless?'
grocery duties,volunteered. when the government-issued I Well,that day the dog was in
His first post office was a six- cases became the norm.The orig- protection mode and bit the car-
by-six foot cubicle in the corner inal case also is in the museum. rier.The first dog bite my father
of the grocery store.A replica of My father collected a plate had to write up was for his own
the first office is displayed at the block of every stamp issued dog.The carrier and my father
Euless Heritage Museum.A while he was Postmaster,from still are great friends;when they
friend of my father's made the 1949 to 1980.He donated his reminisce,this story always
original sorting case;he saved it j collection of more than 1,300 makes them chuckle.
items to the city in There was another instance
11} - y ` ,' 2016.The collection with a carrier delivering pack-
T
I.
it L' r C j has been cataloged ages.He pulled up in front of a
I v and preserved
chronologically ac- house,left the car running and
sr o ►
Df '/1s,Ethe door open while he went to
f'ite5S. / cording to issue ring the doorbell.When the car-
" date. rier got back to
The post office the car,he dis-
You might find it
soon outgrew the covered a dog interesting to
grocery store and had jumped in know:
The post office sign is moved to a new lo- and wouldn't let Population of Euless,
the original from 1949. ------ cation next door.A him in the car. TX, in 1949: 250
L-_, 4 few years after that, Another carrier Population of Euless,
' ' the post office j was chased and TX, in 2017: 59,000+
moved again to a spurred by a
SiAqs o much larger build- rooster.The guys at the post of-
,',.3 r h 9 ing;it moved a third fice had so much fun with that
• y - time before my fa- story,they bought a ceramic
'.,
t ther retired.He rooster and put it on the carrier's
i "isI ' 0 served as Postmaster sorting case,where it stayed until
;'//,), I for 1st-through he retired.
",,, t 4th-class offices in My mother died in 2014;she
4
li
i Euless,starting with and my father had been married
one employee and 71 years.He still is active in
having more than 40 church and on the city's histori-
f k " employees when he
cal preservation committee.He
retired in 1982. works out at the recreation cen-
My father has a ter three times a week and does
lot of stories to tell. gardening and woodworking.
22 June 2017/UPMA LEADER