CHICAGO – It was June, 1953. The world witnessed the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. A new house cost $17,500, a gallon of gas 29 cents, and a postage stamp three cents. Elvis Presley graduated high school, and Martin Luther King Jr. married Coretta Scott.
And Robert Neumann started working for the Post Office in Chicago.

Nearly 61 years later, Neumann’s co-workers, past and present, will gather at the Main Post Office, 433 W. Harrison St., Friday, Apr. 11 at 12 noon to wish Neumann a happy retirement.

Neumann, 84, retires as one of the longest-serving current employees in the U.S. Postal Service.

His first postal job, after four years in the Navy, was as a railroad clerk, sorting mail on a train on a route between Chicago and Nebraska (the same job his father once had). Ever the resourceful, hard worker, Neumann learned electronics on his off days, and started doing electrical work on the side.

That skill came in handy when he finally got off the rails, to work first as a clerk at the former processing plant at O’Hare International Airport, then as a bulk mail conveyor mechanic at the downtown Chicago plant in the early ‘70s.

After working for the Postal Service for nearly 30 years, he was promoted to supervisor in the early ‘80s. But even then he was happy to help other mechanics, and keep the machines running smoothly.

“He’d say, ‘I’m a working supervisor’,” says custodian Brian Carey, who has known Neumann for more than 30 years. “He’d get his hands dirty in a minute.”

Neumann engraved nameplates to label equipment, and fashioned protective clothing for his co-workers – all out of his own pocket. He was so adept at putting equipment back in working order he earned the nickname McGyver, after the popular TV character.

Neumann regularly donated vacation time to others who needed it, but held onto his paid sick leave, accumulating 4,500 hours before a recent illness.

Off the clock, Neumann loved riding Harley-Davidson motorcycles, says Carey, who often rode in to work with Neumann. He’s been married to the same woman for more than 50 years, and together they have two sons, four grandchildren, and have lived in the same Ravenswood home virtually the entire time.

“Everybody knew him, he had friends all over,” remembers Carey, citing his helpful nature. “If he could do it for you, he would do it.

“I don’t know of anyone more loyal to the Postal Service than Bob Neumann. Neumann loved the Postal Service.”

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