Wrapping up 30 years of service with the United States Postal Service, Kingfisher Postmaster Gary Townsend completed his career where it began…with many points in between.

Clearing out his desk on Friday, Townsend said he’ll pursue his retirement plans as soon as he gets a total knee replacement out of the way.

A 1981 Kingfisher High School graduate, Townsend said he began working with his father during the oil boom and later was employed with Kingfisher County in District 1 for approximately seven years, in addition to two years as a parttime jailer and dispatcher at the Kingfisher County Sheriff’s Office.

In August 1993, Townsend began working as a clerk/mail carrier for the Kingfisher Post Office and held that position for about five years, before he moved up to acting supervisor at the Yukon Post Office.

Further ascending eight months later to a supervisor position at the Guthrie Post Office, Townsend left his hometown, moving to Crescent to be closer to his job.

After four years of service in Guthrie, Townsend returned to Kingfisher County and assumed the role of postmaster at the Hennessey Post Office, which he would hold for 13 years.

As postmaster, Townsend said he had the opportunity to travel to various USPS locations within the state filling in where help was needed, serving as the Officer in Charge (OIC).

Some of the sites he served included McAlester, Woodward, Stillwater, Waukomis and others, where he would serve up to six months in some cases.

“It was always interesting to learn different procedures and work with new people,” Townsend said. “I enjoyed the challenge.”

With increasing technology, Townsend said operations have changed tremendously since he began his career.

In earlier years, Townsend recalled the Kingfisher Post Office had two drop boxes for outgoing mail - local and out-of-town.

Staff would manually sort and organize the mail, run it through the canceling machine, sort again for each route and then the mail carrier would sort once again for individual mail delivery, Townsend remembered.

A huge advancement, Townsend said since the USPS implemented Delivery Point Sequencing (DPS), all the mail is now processed in Oklahoma City and “comes completely sorted and ready to go out for delivery.”

Serving Hennessey until 2015, Townsend made the trip northward to fulfill the role of postmaster at Enid, advancing to the next level within the USPS management structure.

With a desire to return to his hometown where he began his career, Townsend said he figured that probably wouldn’t happen as he began to look at his retirement in the not-too-distant future. “I intended to retire there, because I didn’t think the Kingfisher position would open up,” Townsend said.

After two years of serving the citizens of Enid, Townsend discovered he might have the opportunity to fulfill that dream after all when the former postmaster’s position became available.

Although a step down in the USPS management structure, Townsend applied for the position and informed his superiors that, “Kingfisher is where I started my career and I want to go back home.”

On April 29, 2017, his wish was granted.

“It was the best decision of my career,” Townsend said.

“I loved getting to serve the family and friends I grew up with.”

Until a new postmaster is named, Kendra Tinsley, a supervisor at the Mustang Post Office with 11 years of experience, will serve as the OIC at the Kingfisher Post Office.

Entering retirement, Townsend said he plans to play some golf and will expand his custom boot-making and boot repair hobby into a business that he will operate with his son, Greg.

“I will miss the customer interaction and network of colleagues I’ve built relationships with around the state throughout the years,” Townsend said.