Stanley retires from his route

Stanley Sundquist had two parties last week. One at the Gonvick Post Office for anyone to come in for coffee and cake and the other at Sportsman’s Lodge at Pine Lake with past and present postal workers from Gonvick and Clearbrook.

He started working as a substitute rural mail carrier in January of 1984. He has been driving several vehicles around the route for 32 years and he is still just north of Gonvick on  Route one.

In November of 1988 he was full-time as Harlow Berg retired and he got his route out of the Gonvick Post Office.

Stanley graduated from Clearbrook High School and went on to work on the Great Lakes for 5 1/2 years. He was on the George M. Humphrey, a bulk freighter. It was laid up December 31, 1983 and sold for scrap in 1986 to a Taiwanese shipbreaker and ended up in Taiwan on December 10, 1986. Stanley was lucky to be back in the area. Although he said Buffalo, New York was the furthest east that he ever traveled on the boats.

Stanley was married to DeeDee Severson in 1979 and they have three children, Dawn, Douglas and Andrew. They also have three grandchildren Courtney, Amanda and Travis and one great granddaughter Crystal.

The hardest time for Stanley was the winter driving. He was in the ditch more than once and will not miss that part of the job.

He said he does not have a bucket list started but he will be taking care of his health and getting to projects that he has wanted to start.