“I love this job”: Cape Coral’s longest-running rural mail carrier can’t stop

CAPE CORAL, Fla. — For more than four decades, Carolyn Wetzel has snaked her way through Cape Coral in her mail truck. At 81, she approaches each day with as much enthusiasm as her first.

“I love this job,” Carolyn said. “I can’t seem to retire,” she added with a laugh.

Retirement is not a word often on Carolyn’s mind. She is currently Cape Coral’s longest-running mail carrier and has no intentions to stop.

“She’s been working for the post office longer than a lot of the carriers are old,” Christy Williams, a customer service supervisor with the United States Postal Service, said.

Throughout her time on the job, Carolyn has watched kids grow up to have their own kids. She’s also leaned on customers during hard times of her own. Within the past decade, her husband passed away along with her son.

“And without this job, I don’t know if I would be okay because all my friends at work and all the people on the mail route saw me through,” Carolyn said as her voice began to quiver. “So, I’m thankful every day.”

Carolyn plans to continue with the job as long as possible.

“There’s a guy in Texas… he’s 95 years old, and he’s still carrying the mail, so I have a long way to go.”