“It hasn’t sunk in yet because I’m still working,” Jesus “Jesse” Casillas said with a chuckle as he unloaded a bundle of mail out of the back of his truck for the last time. “It’s going to be different. I’ve done this so long it’s a big change.”
For the past 31 years, Casillas has been delivering mail for the United States Postal Service to the same neighborhood in southwest Gilroy. He’s watched families come and go, their children grow up, and along his daily route, made lifelong friends.
Casillas, 60, formally retired Oct. 3 and handed out the last letters he’ll carry to residents in the area of Sixth Street and Miller Avenue. His coworkers called him “No. 1” and always will—and it’s for a reason. At his retirement party, coworkers “retired his number” by hanging up his mailbag on the wall.
“Sometimes it was just to tease him, but mostly it was because if you want to do it right, you watch Jesse,” said Union Shop Steward Joline Masten, who worked alongside Casillas for 20 years. “He really was the ultimate carrier. I know all of his customers are going to miss him terribly.”
Donning Ray Ban sunglasses, slicked back hair and uniform, Casillas did his final lap around the neighborhood he called his office. He tried to keep his retirement a secret from customers on Oct. 3, but when approached by a woman concerned she wouldn’t get her mail on time once he leaves, he assured her things would work out.
Thirty-three years ago, the Hollister native applied to work as a mail carrier, initially attracted to the position because of the job’s benefit and pay package. Casillas transferred to Gilroy in 1983 and he’s been handing off packages and letters to residents on the same 10-mile route since.
“I’m going to miss it,” Casillas said, adding that he enjoys being able to talk to people, make friends, work outside and exercise at the same time. “After so long, I feel like part of the family to some of these people.”
Casillas was encouraged to retire by his wife, who already has herself, he said.
“Now that we’re more or less healthy, why wait to retire? Life’s not guaranteed, you know,” he added.
In the next few years, Casillas said he hopes to take a trip to Las Vegas with his wife and visit Mexico. While his children and grandchildren have grown into adults, Casillas said he plans on spending a lot of time with his 5-year-old great-granddaughter.
Though he’ll be able to spend more time with family, coworkers who’ve known him for decades said the Gilroy Post Office will not be the same without him.
“He is a family member,” Masten said. “We’re a family in Gilroy and a lot of the reason for that is because of people like Jesse. We take care of each other. If somebody needs help, nobody bats an eye. We’re a family.”
Casillas also had another nickname, which was bestowed upon him because he only took sick leave once in 33 years with the United States Postal Service.
“We called him a freak of nature because he never got sick,” Masten said, laughing. “Some of us would showing up coughing and hacking just trying to get through the day but he never did. It’s an amazing thing.”
On top of that, the 60-year-old Hollister native was never late to work.
“The guy is a machine,” Gilroy Postmaster Max Janisch said.
During the week leading up to his retirement, Janisch introduced other postal employees to Casillas in hopes they’d remember his attitude and work ethic.
“He said ‘pay attention to what this guy is doing, because he does it right,’” Masten recalled. “He’s been somebody we look up to for a long time.”
Casillas’ route will go out for bid and will likely go to one of the more senior mail carriers, according to Masten. She has some advice for his replacement.
“Try and do it like Jesse, because I can’t imagine any carrier who could do it any better,” Masten said.
“If you want to do it right, you watch Jesse. He really was the ultimate carrier. I know all of his customers are going to miss him terribly.”
-Joline Masten, union shop steward at the Gilroy Post Office
