If the holidays are a time for being with family, then every day is a holiday for Kevin Buxton.
“I’m old enough to retire,” said Buxton, who has worked as a letter carrier at the Fond du Lac, WI, Post Office for 32 years.
Retirement would give Buxton, 67, more time to play percussion with the Beaver Dam Area Orchestra and his rock band, On the Rocks. He was previously a member of another band, Savior.
“But I don’t necessarily want to retire because it’s fun working with my sons,” he said.
Three of Buxton’s sons — Aaron (age 35), Austin (age 27) and Simon (age 22) — have followed in his footsteps and now work at the Post Office.
Simon and Austin are letter carriers, while Aaron is a city carrier assistant.
While their schedules vary, the Buxtons always make time to see each other several times during the week.
“I’m shocked at all three of them. They never talked about going down this road,” Buxton said.
The road probably started back when Buxton’s sons were children and helped him with the Postal Service’s annual Stamp Out Hunger food drive.
The experience made a big impression on Simon.
“I started [working for the Postal Service] right out of high school,” Simon said, adding that he recently recruited Aaron, who joined USPS after pursuing a career as a medical technician.
“I saw the importance of what we do,” Aaron said.
Austin, meanwhile, wound up joining on his own.
“When I applied, I didn’t tell my dad. I was going to school and working part time. Basically, I was at a point where I didn’t know what I was going to school for,” he said.
Now, eight years after working for the Postal Service, Austin is happy to be part of the family business.
“It just keeps getting better. Once you know the job, it tends to get better over time,” he said.
Meanwhile, Aaron wants one of their sisters to join, which raises the question: Could this be the start of the Buxton postal family dynasty?
“We have a very large family,” Austin said. “There’s nine of us. Aaron is the oldest at 35. The youngest is 10, so there are plenty more coming along who can potentially join. It could happen.”
Whether or not working for the Postal Service becomes more of a family affair, Buxton said he couldn’t be happier working with his three sons.
“Many a morning I wake up and say, ‘Wow, I can’t believe they’ve become letter carriers,’” he said. “It’s pretty gratifying.”
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