Postal worker wraps up 35-year career in Windham

By Ed Pierce

For nearly 35 years Kerry Dyer has worn the uniform of the U.S. Postal Service and during that span he estimates that he’s handled more than a million pieces of mail.

Dyer, 65, has spent all but about one month of his postal career working for the Windham Post Office and is a familiar face behind the counter, checking in packages for delivery and selling books of stamps to longtime residents and customers, but he has decided to retire and his last day on the job was Wednesday.

Kerry Dyer has retired after working for
the U.S. Postal Service in Windham for
nearly 35 years. His final day on the job
was Wednesday and before his
retirement, many of his friends and
customers stopped by the Windham
Post Office to wish him a fond farewell.
PHOTO BY ED PIERCE

His first day as a postal worker was Jan. 2, 1986 and Dyer, a resident of Standish, said he remembers it like it was yesterday.

“I knew people who worked here at the time and they told me about an opening,” he said. “I applied and got the job.”

After several months of processing and sorting mail, Dyer started as a substitute rural carrier and that led to a permanent position as a rural carrier delivering mail to much of the outlying areas of Windham for more than 10 years.

But after sustaining an injury, he returned to work at the Windham Post Office and was assigned to the front counter, where he has greeted thousands of customers through the years.

“I certainly will miss the people, serving the customers and most of all, my co-workers,” Dyer said.

The only time he worked anywhere else for the U.S. Postal Service other than in Windham was a month-long stint at the New Gloucester Post Office about five years ago.  He graduated from Bonny Eagle High School and attended the University of Maine at Orono before choosing to pursue a career as a postman.  

Married to his wife, Denise, and the father of two grown sons, Dyer said he has definite plans on how to spend his retirement.

“I’m going to be doing a lot of gardening and some traveling,” he said. “I’m going to try and play some music like I used to and maybe even volunteer somewhere to stay busy and active.”

Throughout his final week as a postal service employee, friends and customers stopped by the front counter at the post office to wish him well and bid him a fond farewell.

“I’m truly saddened to see him retire,” said Windham resident Coco Wong. “He’s always so friendly, courteous and polite. It’s like losing a member of the family seeing him go.” <