Beloved Hazlet mail carrier retires after 32 years on same route

A beloved Hazlet mail carrier is retiring after 32 years on the same route, and the customers on his route want to make it known how much they will miss him. Mike Marshall was greeted with signs and

News 12 Staff

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Sep 1, 2016, 3:02 AM

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Updated 3,058 days ago

A beloved Hazlet mail carrier is retiring after 32 years on the same route, and the customers on his route want to make it known how much they will miss him.

Mike Marshall was greeted with signs and balloons all up and down his route on his last day, with messages wishing him luck in retirement.

"When I went to each house, I was like, 'This can't be true,'" Marshall says. "I think it's flattering. It's a little too much for me."

When he made it to Campo Lane, he saw his sister, daughters and neighbor Cindy Platko, the woman who made it all possible.

Platko says that although she never knew the mail carrier's last name, he was always an important part of her life.

"He watched all my kids grow up. My kids have kids. He came to my husband's wake. He's a friend," Platko says.

Marshall says that over the span of his career, he did something hardly anyone else does - make a connection with those that he serves.

"Now they don't care about that so much anymore," he says.

Marshall lives in the neighborhood, so he will be able to visit all of his friends. He says he will take some time off and then look for another job that doesn't require being out in the elements.