LaGrange Postmaster Charles Starnes, who retires Thursday after 35 years and eight months with the U.S. Postal Service, says he was lucky to get such a job.

While in college, Starnes had a friend who worked at the Opelika, Ala., post office and “he was telling me about it.”

“I went and took the test, and they hired me right after that,” said Starnes, an Opelika native. “I just got lucky.”

He worked at the post office in Mobile, Ala., for two years and got his first promotion, later serving as postmaster in the Georgia cities of White, Avondale Estates and Monroe before assuming his current position on May 3, 1990.

The LaGrange post office moved from Church Street to its current facility in 2000 and “it couldn’t be a more customer-oriented facility,” he said.

Starnes, 57, said the Christmas season “can be difficult at times, but it’s more enjoyable than anything else.”

“All the employees are geared up for it and it gives everybody a real sense of accomplishment to get the job done and provide what we think is a great service in LaGrange,” he said.

He said mail workers aren’t any more likely to become stressed and “go postal” than people in other occupations.

“I don’t really like that term,” he said. “It’s not really accurate. There have been some unfortunate incidents over the years. … When you’ve got that many people working for you, it’s just a microcosm of the whole country. Being the postal service, any time something happens like that, it’s going to be national.”

Volume has dropped considerably in the past year or two, partly because of the economy and partly because of the computer.

“A lot of people are sending e-mails rather than writing letters,” he said. “People are losing the gift of writing letters now.”

The Postal Service has about 600,000 employees, 200,000 less than a few years ago. Starnes had about 75 employees when he came to LaGrange, and now it’s 68. The clerk positions have been the hardest hit, dropping from 24 to 12.

“I will miss mostly the people,” said Starnes, who has been married for 32 years and has a son in Williamsburg, Va. “It’s like a family here … I have really enjoyed, and it’s just been a pleasure being a postmaster here.”

In retirement, he plans to spend more time on the golf course and following sports at his alma mater, Auburn University, although he already goes to nearly every Auburn football game - home and away - and a lot of baseball and basketball games too, along with various university functions.

He might just move back to Auburn in a year or two.

“I love living in LaGrange,” he said. “It’s been a pleasure. Probably the only place I’d move if I leave would be Auburn. That’s home.”

Joel Martin can be reached at jmartin@lagrangenews.com or (706) 884-7311, Ext. 235.