The Adobe Flash Player is required to view this multimedia interactive. Get it here.

Cable’s postmaster  ends 62-year career

Norma Larry was the longest serving postmaster in U.S.

Norma Larry recently retired at 87 years old after serving as the postmaster for Cable for 62 years. Staff Photo by Barbara J. Perenic

Barbara J. Perenic Norma Larry recently retired at 87 years old after serving as the postmaster for Cable for 62 years. Staff Photo by Barbara J. Perenic

ENLARGE PHOTO

Barbara J. Perenic Norma Larry recently retired at 87 years old after serving as the postmaster for Cable for 62 years. Staff Photo by Barbara J. Perenic

ENLARGE PHOTO

Dayton gets boost from committee for UAV testing
11:48 p.m.
Patrol searches Springfield dealership for stolen cards
11:43 p.m.
Police headlines: Two accused of child endangering
11:41 p.m.
Ad calls Brown career politician
11:39 p.m.
Local Focus: Clark County for May 25
11:27 p.m.
> More headlines

By Matt Sanctis, Staff Writer 11:09 PM Thursday, July 21, 2011

CABLE — With a career that spanned more than six decades, the longest serving postmaster in the United States literally built the Cable’s postal service from the ground up.

And since she owns the building and all the furniture inside, Norma Jean Larry sometimes jokes she could probably shut it down if she wanted to.

Now 84, Larry still might be single-handedly running the day to day operations in the village if medical issues hadn’t arisen. Surgeons amputated one leg earlier this year, finally forcing her to retire from the job she’s held since 1948.

But even more than the job, Larry said she’ll miss the daily interactions with Cable residents who discussed their accomplishments and daily struggles while dropping off their mail.

“I tell you, I miss the people,” Larry said. “That’s the worst thing about retirement.”

Patricia Thomas, a neighbor, said for most of her career, Larry was not only the village postmaster, but also serves as the village’s lifeline to stay in touch with news about the village. Larry was active in village affairs, and although she never got involved in village gossip, the post office was a place residents went when they wanted the latest news.

“She was kind of like the center of everything,” Thomas said.

David Walton, a spokesman for the U.S. Postal Service, said at the time of her retirement Larry was the longest serving postmaster in the U.S.

Larry almost didn’t take the job initially, but her parents encouraged her to take the civil service exam when the position opened in 1948. She earned the high score, and took what she initially thought would be a temporary job.

By the time the government hired her, she almost didn’t want it.

“I wasn’t interested any more but my mom and dad talked me into it,” Larry said.

When she was sworn in, Harry Truman was the president of the United States, and a stamp cost 3 cents.

As the years passed, however, Larry began to enjoy the daily routines of running the post office.

But when a fire tore through the post office building in February 1955, Larry showed the dedication to her work that would continue for the next several decades.

Knowing the mail had to be delivered, she asked for help from her parents, as well as her future husband, Sherman.

Since there was no post office, they began to collect and sort the mail in the dining room of the home Larry shared with her parents.

For eight months, her home was the post office.

Larry’s daughter, Sharma Jenkins, said it was an early sign of the stubbornness that helped Larry do the job for another five decades.

“If she set her mind to something,” that’s the way it is,” Jenkins said.

At the time, Larry was planning to build a small, one-story house next to her parents’ home. Instead, she and her husband moved in with her parents, and eventually bought their home.

The home Larry had planned to build was remodeled to serve as the new post office, and was shipped to Main Street on a flatbed truck, where it became the new post office. Using her own money, Larry purchased furniture for the office and had it custom fit for the new office.

“If they want me to get all my things out they won’t have a post office,” Larry joked.

In the years since, Larry has endured blizzards, dramatic changes in the business, and in 2003, the death of her husband, Sherman.

In the toughest times, she said the job provided a way to cope with her stresses. In the best times, it made her an important part of the day-to-day lives of village residents.

And despite her dedication to the job, Jenkins said her mother always kept her work in the proper perspective, always putting the needs of her family before the job.

“I like to think the way I am is because of who she is,” Jenkins said.

Clyde Russell, 88, worked closely with Larry until he retired after delivering mail for almost 30 years.

Toward the end of his career, he said he occasionally suggested that she retire as well, but she enjoyed her interactions with other residents too much. If the medical issues hadn’t arisen, he said she’d still probably be working for several more years.

After six decades, the next challenge will be finding a new way to stay active. Now in a wheelchair, Larry said she hadn’t planned to retire for several more years.

“I had no idea when I walked out that door that I would never walk in there again,” she said of the post office.

But Jenkins, as well as other friends and neighbors, said the determination she showed throughout her career will help her find purpose in the next phase of her life as well.

“I think we were her lifeline as much as she was ours,” said Thomas, her neighbor.

Share this article