Reed is often questioned about his secret to longevity and his answer is always the same: “Onion sandwiches. I eat one every day.”
95 year–old has not missed a day of work in 37 years
What:
Nation's oldest Postal Employee
Chester Reed, who proudly claims to be 95 ½ and is the nation’s oldest U.S. Postal Service employee, is ready to retire and will be turning in his forklift keys at his retirement celebration.
Who:
Mail handler and Honoree Chester Reed
District Manager Dallas Keck
Senior Plant Manager Larry Belair
San Bernardino Plant Manager Jim Olson
When:
4:00 P.M. – Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Where:
San Bernardino Processing & Distribution Center Cafeteria
1900 W Redlands Blvd.
Redlands CA 92373
Please Note:
Media is asked to RSVP to Eva Jackson at 858–437–1493 for further instructions on how and where to enter the facility.
Mr. Reed will be available for pre–scheduled one–on–one interviews. To make arrangements, please contact Eva Jackson at 858–437–1493 in advance.
Background:
On his retirement date, Chester Reed will have accrued 37 years and 16 days of Postal Service employment, and to top it off, will have never used a day of sick leave. Combined with his military service time, Reed has a total of 62 years, 10 months and 12 days of government service.
Reed was born in 1914 in Bridgeport, Ohio. As a young man, he worked as a manager at a Texas heating and air conditioning business. Reed enlisted with the Air Force at the age of 33 in 1947. He was stationed in the San Bernardino area, and after 25 years of service, retired from the Air Force as a sergeant. Reed then joined the U. S. Postal Service in 1973, and has since worked as a mail handler–forklift operator at the San Bernardino Processing and Distribution Center.
If I am not retired by 65 years old I will consider myself a failure… come to Florida I will love to take him skydiving with me… Jumped with a 87 year old women last year..
“proper verbage” you hit the nail right on the head but there are too many of them that just dont want to let go this is not just a job for them this is there life!
THANK GOD I DIDNT WORK WITH HIM! HE SHOULD HAVE RETIRED I LONG TIME AGO!! JUST HOLDING A BID UP!
kickass ,that great to known some to stay healthy and is able to work that long. not sure if I would do but good to know it can be done. I Take my hat off to mister chester reed my god take care of you and the rest of your journy be great. hope you do get to see more off the world.
Definitely a rare bird. I gave him windsurfing lessons when he was in his late 70’s and everyone thought he was nutz back then.
Brilliant! An onion sandwich a day keeps the supervisor away. No wonder why you lasted so long. You deserve to live another twenty years for coming up with that one, and I surely hope you do. Bless you and best of luck.
God bless the man. He;ll surely go to heaven having alread done his time in Hell.
Hey i understand what the sister is saying about us having alot of years left to work and the people that has been hear along time will automatically get a retirement check is still working and we are the ones that don’t have enought time to retire and is not the proper age to retire will get layed off with out a check and if so it’s for unemployment for 6 months and if we lucky we might get unemployement for 1 year. I really think the people that has served their time should retire so we as younger generations can work and contribute our time and retire then move on for the next generations to be able to serve their time. It is said to be known when employees retire they die but i am a firm believer when it’s your time it doesn’t matter if you are working or not, that is when the good Lord calls you home. Maybe this was this man’s life and this is what loved to do. We don’t know but he was still a good active worker and that is really good. Congrats on your dedicated service to the postal service and serving our country. A job well done. I pray you are able to enjoy your life after retirement. I have spoken to serveral people that retired and they say they Love It! Hope you are able to say the same. May God continue to keep and bless you.
these are the type of pogo heads who retire then draw a couple of checks then keel over and die in their tracks while going to retrieve their last check which will be returned “deceased” by their transional maiman who still has acne. The old goat did not realize he was in the way all those years and since he was in the Air Force” he probably had plenty of energy since those flyboys are lazier than mail handlers and supervisors. Plus driving a forklift? Give me a break…I hope he was wearing diapers and had a catheter hooked up while he rode around looking for a place to nap. Yeah ole Chester will kick the bucket soon and at his autopsy they will find seventeen feet of Management cock up his bottom causing his colon to be blocked up to his intestines and the reason for death listed as “butt Trauma due to ForkLift career”
I retired last year after 38 years with the P.O.. It is great, and I wish Chester the best of luck. To work there at that age is priceless. He must have had great people to work with. I just hope be alive at that age. God Bless and enjoy.
What an incredible journey you’ve travelled, Chester. Thank you for your outstanding contributions and for sharing your longevity tip…the onion sandwiches. I think I’ll plant some onions in my backyard now. Have a wonderful retirement and continue receiving your blessings. Wishing you all the best life has to offer. Congratulations and God Bless you.
Fat John, don’t forget that useless folder with the bullshit letter inside about “how much you are valued and appreciated as a postal employee”” yada yada fu**ing yada . Chester,Great Job man God bless you I hope you get a LOT of retirement checks.
Chester, please send recipe for the Onion Sandwich. many thanks and talk soon
Knucklehead,
Since the early 1990’s you’ve cost the Postal Service about 10 cents per hour.
as a token of appreciation, the post office will give him a 2 cent stamp that is already cancelled
Absolutely amazing beyond belief. I worked for the USPS as an hourly rated slug for over 30 years. Postal management (PCES grade) has nothing but pure contempt for us “blue collar” workers while glomming their bonuses. The PCES’ are snickering all the way to the bank while Chester…………………………!
I had the pleasure of working side by side with Chester unloading those fully loaded vans each night. I later supervies him. I remember him with the onion
sandwiches each night. I’v been out since 2002, i’m glad you can come and enjoy
all the things thst retirement will bring you.Good Luck Lou
Please don’t give him that seat! The Postal Service doesn’t replace anything except management, so the next driver would wind up with a pole……well that’s their plan for us anyway.
I wish I could be at his party! Wow. Congrats to you for surviving this place all these years! =:0) Enjoy your retirement!
I am making a onion sandwich from now on.. God Bless and Congrats Chester
Right on anyman — Good Luck Chet!!!
Why question this mans life and how he decided to live it. Who are we to judge him? I once ask that of an older employee and a person replied that maybe that’s what he wanted to do. You know what postal employees do? They complain about other people instead of taking care of themselves. In this economy all the complaints about having a job, health insurance, vacation and sick leave are falling death ears. I am happy to have a secure job even if I have to relocate. At least I am not on the corner begging for money or having to go to a temporary service to take of my family. Life isn’t so bad and I hope he lives long enough to take back every penny in retirement he earned working. I won’t be working that long though. Not my thing. Good job Mr. Reed. Live long and prosper.
Pretty amazing,but he has been working for nothing .He could of enjoyed retirement decades ago.No disrespect but im in my 30’s and the postal service is needing to layoff people and it me not people with 40 years that would be forced out.Its just not right..30 years of service and retirement age and then people still decide they want to work just because they dont want to be bored
AMAZING, absolutely amazing! God Bless him. May the rest of his years be filled fun.
As someone who has had the pleasure of working with Chester Reed at the San Bernardino P&DC, I have never in my life met a more amazing and hard-working, caring and sensitive man. Here he is….and 2 years ago he went to Brazil with his son HANG-GLIDING (yep you read right). As a fellow postal retiree, my 38 1/2 years of service pales in comparison to Chester’s 62+ years of service. God Bless you, Chester!!! The Postal Service should give you the seat off your forklift as a departing gift. Chester is an AMAZING individual and I know the rest of my former co-workers join with me in wishing Chester a very long and healthy retirement full of travel and other exciting ventures. And believe me, being a couch potato is NOT one of Chester’s activities.
I’m just wondering why this guy is retiring? Why now? What is the point? Maybe he’ll live to be 120 and then he can enjoy his retirement. He’s been working for nothing for 20 years.