Postal carrier delivered more than mail

Being a postal letter carrier is an anonymous job unless, like Don Densel, your route is Halcyon Park and you treat the residents as next-door neighbors.

Densel’s love of service and the neighborhood was so evident that his recent retirement was commemorated in a township proclamation. Retiring now was his plan, but this past long winter made leaving after 27 years, 22 in Halcyon Park, a little easier.

“I miss my coworkers and my customers,” he said over coffee in a Broad Street diner, his wife, Bonnie, beside him. “We had gone to two weddings and if someone died, I’d go into their home. It was just a loving relationship. When some people on my route said they were going to do something for me, at first, I was a little hesitant. I didn’t want pride to become a part of it. I was afraid of pride. But I was humbled by the proclamation. After my last day of work, Feb. 27, I went home and sat down and actually cried. I had a deep love for all of them.”

Densel was born in Passaic and graduated from Elmwood Park High School where he played soccer, basketball and his favorite sport, baseball. He went to work at Robern Pen Corp. for eight years as its inventory control manager. Afterwards, he and his brother opened The Bread Basket Deli, in Oakland.

“My first customer there was George Meade, the WOR Shadow Traffic broadcaster,” Densel said. “Every morning he came in at 4 a.m. And then on my mail route, I delivered mail to Ron Morante, Meade’s helicopter pilot.”

The daily mail began for Densel at 8:45 a.m. by sorting letters, magazines and loading up his own car to transport it, including packages under two pounds. A 12-hour, 34,000-step day was not out of the ordinary. Winter days were even longer: it was dark earlier, envelope addresses were harder to see, snow prevented short-cuts across lawns and there was more concern for footing.

One time Densel, substituting on another route, slipped down a flight of icy stairs. He said when reporting a slip or trip, a letter carrier must submit a photo of their footwear. His footwear is New Balance. Postal workers have an official New Balance shoe distinguished by a small tag in the seam. The submitted photo must show this tag.

“Being a letter carrier, they call it ‘carrier technician,’ is quite a challenge with illness and falls on the ice,” Densel said, “but that’s just part of the job. You really have to stay focused. The mail volume has gone down, but the number of packages has increased and routes have become longer because people weren’t being replaced.”

Being a mailman is a repetitive job with a lot of physical wear and tear. Three years ago, a tendon in Densel’s upper left arm snapped. It was not an accident, just wear and tear, he said. He missed eight months of work and the tendon had to be reattached.

But he enjoyed getting to know just about everyone on his route.

“Half of the people had my cell number,” he said. “Anything mail-related, if they had a problem, they could text me. One lady was waiting for a blouse before a wedding and before anything, I delivered it. She needed it that day. What does it cost you to do this? The key word is service.

People are looking for that. That’s where my heart is, serving people.”

Another time someone was anxiously waiting for a passport and was away from home. Densel took a photo of the Department of State envelope when it arrived and texted it to them.

And the mail carrier’s job is tough on the wife, too. Densel said he might be gone for half the day, but Bonnie would cook for him when he arrived home.

On the day he retired, from a Halcyon Park resident, he received the following text: “The greatest gift you gave us wasn’t just your help, but your attention. We felt seen, and in return, we saw what a beautiful heart you had. Thank you for pulling us out of the background. In a world that often feels like it’s looking past you, you looked right at us.”

Halcyon Park will be celebrating Densel’s retirement with a picnic on May 30.