Everyone knows Bob at the Lansing Post Office. He always has a kind word, a lollypop for the kids, and helpful advice on the best way to mail your package. Bob Sturm is a friendly, soft spoken man who gives you his full attention while waiting on you.
Bob lives in Newfield with his wife Jan. They started dating in his Senior year at Newfield High School. "We had an old fashioned courtship," he told us. They were married in 1963 after dating for four years. When Bob was out for back surgery recently the most frequently asked question at the desk was "How is Bob doing?" Bob has been honored by the Lansing Methodist Church Senior Citizens and the Lansing Lions. He claims he'll be retiring soon (he's been telling us that for years), and will be missed when he does. For outstanding service to the Lansing community for ten years, Bob Sturm is our August Star of the Month.
A few weeks ago I sat down with Bob at Linda's Diner to talk about his life, the Lansing post office, and people he has come to know.
Lansing Star: How long have you been working for the Post Office?
Bob Sturm: Since May of 1983.
LS: And before that you were in the military?
BS: I spent 21 years in the Air Force.
LS: You and your wife trained to be pastors, didn't you?
BS: I'm in the process of training to go into the ministry.
LS: Which ministry?
BS: Assemby of God
LS: So you're looking at a third career. What comes after that?
BS: Nothing! (laughs) What we're looking at is doing missionary work in the States. They have a program where they go and build churches and build camps, and they need pastors to fill in here and there while the regular pastor goes on vacation.
LS: While working for the Postal Service have you always been in the Ithaca Area?
BS: Yes
LS: So were you in the main post office before you came to Lansing?
BS: I was in the main post office full time until I transferred up to the Lansing branch around 1995.
LS: Did you fill in in Lansing before you came here full time?
BS: No, I just came up cold turkey. You bid for it.
LS: So how did you know you wanted to do it?
BS: I just felt that's what I wanted. I enjoy working on my own.
LS: The jobs are pretty different, aren't they, because you do all of them. Do you like doing that?
BS: Oh, yes, it's interesting because you don't know what you're going to do from one day to the next. I mean you have your standard things to do like the mail and waiting on customers, but there are other things that come up that you don't expect.
LS: Like?
BS: Oh sometimes something might go wrong where you have to contact the people to get it fixed, or the equipment. Sometimes you have to figure out whether it's the landlord's responsible or the post office's responsibility.
LS: You've made a lot of friends. In fact when you are gone sometimes your replacement will put up a sign that says "I don't know where Bob is."
BS: (laughs) Oh yes, as soon as I come back I hear about it.
LS: Have there been particular characters over the years that have stuck in your mind?
BS: There have been a couple, yes. One of them was the fellow (John Ratzenburger) who played the postal carrier on Cheers. He and his son were passing through the area, and they had stuff to mail. We got to talking. He had a brand new camper, an Airstream, and that's what we were talking about. He invited me out to look at it.
I didn't know who he was until he left and some of the customers told me. In the process of talking to him he asked me where was a good place to eat. I sent him to Linda's Diner, and all the other customers took off for Linda's when they found out where he was going.
LS: And you couldn't.
BS: (laughs) Well, no, I couldn't.
LS: Any regulars that have tried to mail something unusual?
BS: Oh I get unusual things all the time. Another person we had come through was Congressman Houghton. He came through this area when he was campaigning. He stopped by the Lansing branch rather than going to the main post office. So I have pictures of the two of us together. That was interesting, meeting a congressman.
LS: What was he mailing?
BS: He wasn't mailing anything, he was just coming through. It was a courtesy stop. With E-bay going so strong you get all kinds of stuff they sell on-line. Anything from books to car parts to bumpers, things like that.
LS: What was the strangest thing?
BS: It wasn't really strange, but it was complicated. There was a grillwork for an antique car, the whole grillwork. We worked on it to get it packaged right within (the allowed) size.
LS: Did you find a box for it?
BS: We manufactures something for it. We got it out of here.
LS: Do people ever try to mail animals?
BS: We used to be able to, but not from the Lansing office. They had to take them over to the main post office. They still do. They get baby chicks, and insects for the vets at the college. And sometimes in the Spring they'll get a shipment of bees in with the queen bee. But they need special handling over at the main office. I don't get into that. I'd have to send them over there because of the time factor in getting them out and how they have to go.
LS: Has the computerized system made a difference to you one way or another?
BS: To me it's outdated. They'll have to update it to make it go faster, to process things faster. We have our own satellite dish where everything is transmitted right to Buffalo. They get the reports and everything. They have the capability to bring up our systems any time they want to check on anything.
LS: So you're not communicating with Ithaca?
BS: Reports go directly to Buffalo.
LS: At one time they were thinking of closing the Lansing branch, and a lot of people didn't want that to happen. And for some reason it didn't...
BS: When they were going through closing small offices, the people in Lansing petitioned them to keep it open, and that's one of the things that helped save it.
LS: Do you think that would happen in the future?
BS: The way I see things going right now I don't see where it would. Lansing supports itself "plus" with its revenue. It's grown a lot.
LS: How many residents do you estimate you're on a first name basis with?
BS: I wouldn't be able to count. A lot of people, after a while you get to know them. You know I was brought up the old fashioned way where you respect seniors. But some of them tell you to use their first name. And after a while you get to know some of them, too. My feeling is that even for young people, you show them respect and they'll show you respect, too. Respect for one another.
I have this lady who has been coming in for quite a while, and she always calls me sir. I said, "I'm not a 'sir.' I haven't been since I left the military." She said, "that's the way I was brought up and that's the way it's going to be." You get to know people personally. If you are friendly with them, if you leave your problems at home when you go to work, it shows. People are friendlier that way.
LS: How many kids do you have?
BS: I have a son and a daughter, and I have five grandchildren. One grandson and four granddaughters. My grandson is going to college in New york City for journalism, and my oldest granddaughter lives with her father in Albany, and the other three are in the area.
LS: Where were you from originally?
BS: Rochester, Pennsylvania.
LS: What brought you up to this area?
BS: My sister and brother-in-law lived up here and I used to come up and spend the summers with them, and then my Senior year in High School, I knew a lot of the Senior class up here in Newfield in 1959. I talked my parents into letting me finish High School in Newfield.
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