Thursday, July 31, not only closed out the month, it was also the last day Darrell Meyer walked his route for the final time and delivered his last letter as a postal carrier in New Prague. Meyer of New Prague closed out a 38-year career as a postal worker in the area.
Meyer started working for the post office shortly after high school.
“How I got into it is, I didn’t know what to do,” Meyer said. His dad, the late Ivan Meyer, suggested his son work for the post office. Ivan Meyer also worked for the post office for 18 years. Darrell Meyer went in and took the civil service test. Meyer said there were more people applying at the time and he was the 13th person in line to apply. Meyer passed the test and worked part-time for five years. Meyer started working in Montgomery. While he worked in Montgomery, Meyer also worked in six different towns, helping out where he could. Meyer worked on 16 different routes at that time.
“I was young and it was more fun then. The routes were different all the time,” he said.
Working for the post office is a family trait as Meyer’s brother, Russell, worked at the St. Paul Post Office for more than 30 years before he retired 13 years ago.
The last few years have had other challenges for Meyer. In 2018, he was diagnosed with chronic leukemia and then in 2019 he was diagnosed with acute leukemia. He was treated for the diseases and during some treatments he and his wife mostly lived in Rochester for 10 months. Meyer said he received a stem cell donation from his brother, Russell. Meyer is still experiencing side affects, plus he’s currently on a chemo drug. “Hopefully soon to be done with that,” Meyer said. When Meyer completed most of his treatments, he returned to work.
“I told my co-workers I wasn’t going to...
To see more on this story pick up the August 7, 2025 print edition of The New Prague Times.