Jane Payne, Popular Postal Clerk, Retires

Jane Payne has seen a lot in the 23 years that she has worked for the Hawleyville Post Office.

When she started, the post office was located in the building where the Hawleyville Deli now operates. Four years later, it moved back to its original location, the small building where Postmaster Glover Hawley ruled in the years after it first opened in March of 1844.

“I remember the year the heat in the other building went out and the water and sponges [used to seal packages and moisten stamps] froze – but we continued to work,” Ms Payne recalled.

Last Friday, September 29, was her last day. The current postmaster, Mark Favale, and the other staff threw a small retirement party for her at the post office, with refreshments for all of the patrons who stopped by.

Jane Payne has lived in Newtown since 1972 after she and her husband bought property and opened Payne’s Nursery. They had a daughter, Janice, who married Matt Stock and recently moved to Woodbury with granddaughter Jane Marie, 21/2. Their son, Charlie, lives in Newtown with his wife, Michele, and their three sons, Ben, 4, Jim, 3, and two-month-old John, named for his grandfather, who died last year.

Originally a registered nurse who worked in surgical intensive care, Ms Payne says she intends to keep busy by doing some special duty nursing.

“But I’m really going to miss the people I worked with in the post office and the customers,” she said. “I never had a morning when I was sorry that I had to go to work. I really enjoyed it.”