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New postmaster is first American Indian, youngest so far in Farmington

Jenny Kane, The Daily Times Discussion »

FARMINGTON, NEW MEXICO – Steve Begay became the youngest, and first American Indian postmaster in the Farmington Post Office's 134 year history on Friday.

Begay, originally from Shiprock, never thought he would become a postmaster, though he always has been a fan of the system, which he now will oversee.

“It's personal. You get a letter, you see the emotion in the letter,”

said Begay, who is 37 and a member of the Navajo tribe.

Begay began working for the postal service in 1999, after serving in the United States Marine Corps.

While stationed in Bosnia with the Marine Corps, he used to receive letters from his girlfriend, who is now his wife. It was their only form of communication, he said.

“I still have those letters,”

he said.

“I would keep them in my pocket and read them again, and again.”

Upon return from his service overseas, Begay aspired to be either a firefighter or a police officer, and applied for both positions with the city of Tempe, Ariz. However, he also applied to another position with the city – one at the local post office.

“The post office was the first one to get back to me, so I took the job,”

Begay said.

Over the years, Begay worked at several other post offices before coming to the Farmington Post Office in 2005.

“I hire people not for their can-do, 'but their want-to,'”

said former Farmington Post Office Postmaster Billy Smith, acting Post Office Operations Manager in Las Cruces.

“Here is a guy with a lot of 'want-to.'”

Begay worked many of the less desirable jobs, such as those requiring night shifts, before being considered for his new position Read More »

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posted January 21, 2013 6:40 am est