thedrifter
05-06-06, 12:16 PM
Stewarts a marriage mailed from heaven
By STARLA POINTER
Of the News-Register
During World War II, the U.S. Postal Service, like many other employers, hired many women to replace the men who had been called into military service.
Mildred Cornell joined as a clerk. A recent transplant to California from Wisconsin, she became the postal superintendent's secretary in the San Diego Post Office.
When Leroy Stewart finished a stint in the Marines, he returned to his native San Diego.
He had started his postal career there a month before the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. He was planning to earn money so he could continue dairy engineering classes at the University of California, But the war, of course, put both his postal work and his college plans on hold.
He went back to his postal job after the war. "I came home to the post office and saw this lovely thing walking across the floor," he said, recalling his first glimpse of Mildred. "I had to ask her for a date."
Mildred already knew a little about the handsome ex-Marine. "I'd heard about Leroy from all the other girls," she said.
The Stewarts married in 1948 and soon had three boys.
Leroy thought about returning to school, but decided to stay with the postal work instead. He took over the office in nearby El Cajon, about the size of Salem.
He was one of the last postmasters to be appointed by a political party and approved by the U.S. Congress, he said. Today, postal jobs are awarded on merit.
---
Mildred continued at the post office for a while, then worked as a secretary for the local school district.
After both retired, the Stewarts traveled all over North America. They pulled camp trailers to Canada and to Mexico. They even traveled to Alaska back before paved roads made the trip easier.
"Now we watch the news and say, 'We've been there, we've been there, we've been there,'" Leroy said.
They loved the beauty of the lands they traveled through, especially Yukon Territory in the summer. They loved the fishing, too.
On the way home from one of their trips to Canada, the Stewarts detoured through Oregon to visit their son, Randall, who was working for Evergreen International Aviation. They decided Yamhill County would be a good place to live.
When they first moved to McMinnville, they settled on a four-acre farm on Hill Road, near Fox Ridge. It was way out in the country then.
They raised a calf each summer and grew a huge garden, producing more vegetables than they could eat.
In fact, that first year, they put in a dozen hills of zucchini. "I presented a brown paper bag of zucchini to each visitor we had," Leroy said.
Among their regular visitors were their grandchildren. Leroy liked to give them rides on his riding lawn mower, with the blade locked for safety.
"It was fun to have the grandkids on the farm," Mildred said.
Ten years ago, after Leroy fell from a tree while pruning, the Stewarts moved into town. They missed the quiet of the farm, but enjoyed the neighborliness of Redwood Drive.
They recently relocated to a retirement center in Newberg, near their church, Zion Lutheran.
---
The Stewarts are active in both their church and Gideons International. The latter is a nondenominational group that witnesses about Jesus and places scripture in hospitals, hotels and other locations.
"We used to love going to the schools to give out Bibles," Leroy said. "But they won't let us do that anymore."
They delivered meals to shut-ins for years, until recent health problems ended that. Leroy helped other seniors with their income tax forms for 17 years at the McMinnville Senior Center.
They worked with the FISH food bank before it was taken over by The Salvation Army. They've been regulars at Gallery Theater for 20 years.
They also are active in the 50-year-old Yamhill County chapter of the National Active and Retired Federal Employees association. In his more than 30 years with NARFE, Leroy has served as local president and as district representative for Northwest Oregon.
He now is considered an honorary member, a title of respect awarded to those who have been members for decades.
The Stewarts recommend NARFE membership for every retired federal worker - former postmasters and clerks, FAA workers, National Parks Service employees and others who once worked for the government.
"The goal of NARFE is to hang onto the benefits we have," Leroy said.
"When you're working, you belong to the union," he explained. "But after you retire, there's no longer that stewardship on your behalf. That's why we have NARFE."
Because of NARFE's advocacy in the past 82 years, he said, retirees now have a group health program, cost of living adjustments and other protections. But many retirees don't seem to realize that they need to participate in the organization so that it will keep advocating on their behalf.
The bigger the membership, the more clout NARFE can have with lawmakers, Leroy said. But he noted national membership had peaked at 400,000 and since dwindled to about 300,000.
"I see a lot of apathy," he said.
Although they now live in Newberg, the Stewarts will be back in McMinnville on Friday for the monthly NARFE meeting. They're hoping to attract new members to the group, which has about 50 on its books.
"In our area, there are probably a lot more federal employees than we know about. We need to get them to be active," Leroy said.
He repeated one of his favorite mantras about the need for NARFE: "Congress giveth and Congress taketh away."
Ellie
By STARLA POINTER
Of the News-Register
During World War II, the U.S. Postal Service, like many other employers, hired many women to replace the men who had been called into military service.
Mildred Cornell joined as a clerk. A recent transplant to California from Wisconsin, she became the postal superintendent's secretary in the San Diego Post Office.
When Leroy Stewart finished a stint in the Marines, he returned to his native San Diego.
He had started his postal career there a month before the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. He was planning to earn money so he could continue dairy engineering classes at the University of California, But the war, of course, put both his postal work and his college plans on hold.
He went back to his postal job after the war. "I came home to the post office and saw this lovely thing walking across the floor," he said, recalling his first glimpse of Mildred. "I had to ask her for a date."
Mildred already knew a little about the handsome ex-Marine. "I'd heard about Leroy from all the other girls," she said.
The Stewarts married in 1948 and soon had three boys.
Leroy thought about returning to school, but decided to stay with the postal work instead. He took over the office in nearby El Cajon, about the size of Salem.
He was one of the last postmasters to be appointed by a political party and approved by the U.S. Congress, he said. Today, postal jobs are awarded on merit.
---
Mildred continued at the post office for a while, then worked as a secretary for the local school district.
After both retired, the Stewarts traveled all over North America. They pulled camp trailers to Canada and to Mexico. They even traveled to Alaska back before paved roads made the trip easier.
"Now we watch the news and say, 'We've been there, we've been there, we've been there,'" Leroy said.
They loved the beauty of the lands they traveled through, especially Yukon Territory in the summer. They loved the fishing, too.
On the way home from one of their trips to Canada, the Stewarts detoured through Oregon to visit their son, Randall, who was working for Evergreen International Aviation. They decided Yamhill County would be a good place to live.
When they first moved to McMinnville, they settled on a four-acre farm on Hill Road, near Fox Ridge. It was way out in the country then.
They raised a calf each summer and grew a huge garden, producing more vegetables than they could eat.
In fact, that first year, they put in a dozen hills of zucchini. "I presented a brown paper bag of zucchini to each visitor we had," Leroy said.
Among their regular visitors were their grandchildren. Leroy liked to give them rides on his riding lawn mower, with the blade locked for safety.
"It was fun to have the grandkids on the farm," Mildred said.
Ten years ago, after Leroy fell from a tree while pruning, the Stewarts moved into town. They missed the quiet of the farm, but enjoyed the neighborliness of Redwood Drive.
They recently relocated to a retirement center in Newberg, near their church, Zion Lutheran.
---
The Stewarts are active in both their church and Gideons International. The latter is a nondenominational group that witnesses about Jesus and places scripture in hospitals, hotels and other locations.
"We used to love going to the schools to give out Bibles," Leroy said. "But they won't let us do that anymore."
They delivered meals to shut-ins for years, until recent health problems ended that. Leroy helped other seniors with their income tax forms for 17 years at the McMinnville Senior Center.
They worked with the FISH food bank before it was taken over by The Salvation Army. They've been regulars at Gallery Theater for 20 years.
They also are active in the 50-year-old Yamhill County chapter of the National Active and Retired Federal Employees association. In his more than 30 years with NARFE, Leroy has served as local president and as district representative for Northwest Oregon.
He now is considered an honorary member, a title of respect awarded to those who have been members for decades.
The Stewarts recommend NARFE membership for every retired federal worker - former postmasters and clerks, FAA workers, National Parks Service employees and others who once worked for the government.
"The goal of NARFE is to hang onto the benefits we have," Leroy said.
"When you're working, you belong to the union," he explained. "But after you retire, there's no longer that stewardship on your behalf. That's why we have NARFE."
Because of NARFE's advocacy in the past 82 years, he said, retirees now have a group health program, cost of living adjustments and other protections. But many retirees don't seem to realize that they need to participate in the organization so that it will keep advocating on their behalf.
The bigger the membership, the more clout NARFE can have with lawmakers, Leroy said. But he noted national membership had peaked at 400,000 and since dwindled to about 300,000.
"I see a lot of apathy," he said.
Although they now live in Newberg, the Stewarts will be back in McMinnville on Friday for the monthly NARFE meeting. They're hoping to attract new members to the group, which has about 50 on its books.
"In our area, there are probably a lot more federal employees than we know about. We need to get them to be active," Leroy said.
He repeated one of his favorite mantras about the need for NARFE: "Congress giveth and Congress taketh away."
Ellie