For almost 37 years, the residents on Needham’s postal Route 4 had more than a postman delivering packages and correspondences. They had a friend, a caregiver, a first responder who they trusted and was one of the family. During those years, the only thing Gerry MacIssac ’81 didn’t deliver was a baby.
Gerry MacIssac’s career with the US Post Office began when he was talked into taking the test by his then-girlfriend, now-wife who was also applying. So he did. “It was the only test I ever took and the next thing you know, I’m in,” he recalls.
Having worked as a postman in his hometown of Roslindale for a year, MacIssac switched and began a 37-year relationship with the residents of Needham as their mail carrier on the 13-mile circuit that was Route 4. “Rhymes with Bobby Orr,” laughs MacIssac. “Who could forget that?”
“Starting, you don’t realize how many people you get to meet and what goes on with everyone’s life every day,” he says. But he did and got to know everyone on his route. He knew when folks were home, when they were away. He gave them his number, they texted to hold their mail, he kept an eye on them, their kids, their dogs, especially the elderly. “One man that was on my route, I saw him walking down the road and knew he shouldn’t be out by himself. So, I went over and got him, got hold of the police and they took him back.” He wasn’t just their mailman; he was their post office and became the indispensable agent of everyone’s life. Every September, he’d attend the local block party. One year, something was different. “I showed up, didn’t notice they all had shirts with my route number, the years I was on the route and on the back ‘Gerry.’ It just didn’t click. Oh, my goodness, they got me good that day.”
MacIssac admits that he got his sense of community through delivering the mail. “The people you saw every day became like family.” And that only happens after a very long time. “A lady on my route gave me baseball tickets to the Red Sox. So, I got her Patriot tickets. We went together with her son, John, who was about five. I had him on my shoulders. Now he has two kids of his own. I remember another family having their kids. Years later I went to both of their weddings. It’s just crazy how you get so close with the people you serve.” Like so many Knights, it comes as no surprise that MacIssac spent his entire career serving a community of which he was accepted as a full-blown member. “I know more people in Needham now than I did in Roslindale growing up. I’ve been here my whole life.”
When it came time to retire, those on route four were devastated. “People came from everywhere leaving me cards…you should see what they left me. I had women crying. They didn’t want me to leave.” So he didn’t and stayed an extra year. “Never underestimate people. It’s really something how they will go out of their way to help you. I’ll be going back for 20 more years—keep an eye on them,” says MacIssac who will turn his energies to golf using the irons he received for his retirement from a member
of his Route 4 family.
