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Show World War Hero Named Orem Postmaster The City of Orem's lack of a post office, since the Sharon Post Office was closed in 1902 less than a week after Rural Free Delivery had been started start-ed " in the community became an increasingly sensitive issue, locally, after the town was elevated to a City of the Third-Class in 1941. America's entry into World War II on Dec. 7, 1941, only exacerbated the matter, mat-ter, as hundreds of workmen from all over the country began converging on Orem to work on construction of the Geneva Steel Plant. Arthur V. Watkins, ownereditor of the Orem-Geneva Times, regularly editorialized edi-torialized about the need for a post office. The Orem Lions Club lobbied for a post office. Orem Mayor B.M. Jolley and the Orem City Council pressed Utah's Congressional Delegation to appeal to the Post Office Department. At that time, a small corps of specialists, special-ists, comprising the Postal Inspection Service, provided the manpower to monitor, mon-itor, to audit, and, make inspections of all post offices in the country. Finally, the approval for Orem's post office came. Postal Inspector R.H. Wheeler was assigned to visit Orem City and make arrangements for open-'X- ing a post office here. A location for the post office had to be secured, and the necessary equipment obtained to provide pro-vide the proper functionality. Arrangements also had to be made for transportation of the mail from Salt Lake City, and from Provo to Orem. Specialized equipment had . to be obtained for the new office, such as scales, stamp drawers, sack racks, office furniture and a secure safe. Needless to say, during that war-time period, some of those items were difficult to locate and to acquire. The Orem City Council was most helpful in providing the south wing of the Orem City Hall, as a central location for the post office. Also a crucial element ele-ment in opening the new post office was identifying the person per-son that lived in the community, who could serve well, as the Orem Postmaster. A number num-ber of local residents marlp nrmlimtmn for the nnsitinn nnrl wprp Lyle M. interviewed by Inspector Wheeler. Among them was Lyle M. McDonald, who had taken up residence in Orem in 1931. McDonald had served in the United States Army, during World War I, and had been an active member of the local veterans' organization, the American Legion. Well-known and active in the community, com-munity, Lyle M. McDonald was appointed appoint-ed postmaster for Orem, and he was charged with getting the office operational. opera-tional. . His commission,' signed by Postmaster General Frank C. Walker, was dated Dec. 14, 1943: "Know ye, that reposing special trust and confidence in the intelligence and discretion of Lyle M. McDonald, I have nominated, and, by and with the consent of the Senate, do appoint him Postmaster at Orem, in the County of Utah, State of Utah, and do authorize author-ize and empower him to execute and fulfill the duties of that office..." Preparations were McDonald c r wing of the Orem City Hall, and plans were made to officially open the post office January 2, 1944. In the interim the space was used by the management of the U.S. Trailer Park to distribute mail to the park residents. Meanwhile, James G. Stratton, former for-mer owner of the home in which the if ;- f j Orem City Hall was housed, and also a member of the Orem City Council, came upon some used postal equipment, being sold at the Beaver, Utah Post Office. Stratton purchased the used post office boxes and post office safe and delivered "them to Orem's new- postal quarters. ' " --- ? Postmaster McDonald and his. family assisted city officials in painting, scrubbing scrub-bing and numbering the post office boxes in preparation for the opening. As postmaster of a post office of the fourth-class, fourth-class, Lyle M. McDonald demonstrated truly heroic qualities in working alone in the post office, at first, except for some assistance from J. Edholm, a retired postal worker, who helped out. M. Verne Thurber, who had served as the carrier on Provo's R.F.D. No. 2 for 18 years, was reassigned to the Orem Post Office, serving on Orem's R.F.D. No. 2. The Orem Post Office soon became one of the most rapidly growing post offices in Utah. Just 41 years after the Sharon Post Office had been closed in this community, communi-ty, Lyle M. McDonald, an Orem resident, resi-dent, and a veteran of World War I, was appointed postmaster of the first Orem Post Office. The new office operated as a fourth-class post office for six months. The next year the office was. advanced to the rank of a second-class post office. Wartime Orem Postal Heroes For over two years after the United States entered World War II, following the dastardly attack on Pearl Harbor, the only mail service available to the residents of Orem was the delivery of their mail by the Provo R.F.D. 2 Rural Carrier, M. Verne Thurber. Even with 400 house trailers filled with construction workers, occupying the Orem City Park located east of the Orem City Hall, Orem was still without its own post office, in spite of the earnest efforts of both city and civic leaders of the community. Finally, in December, 1943, approval was given to open a post office in Orem, and Lyle M. McDonald was installed as the first Orem Postmaster. Housed in the south wing of the Orem City Hall, the new post office provided mail service serv-ice in post office boxes, General Delivery and on two rural routes. R.F.D. Route 2 at the Provo Post Office was transferred to the Orem Post Office, where its long-time carrier, M. Verne Thurber, continued to serve the Orem patrons. R.F.D Route 1 was also established at the Orem Post Office, with Russell Bellows serving half of Orem's postal customers. All of the Orem residents receiving mail delivery on the Provo rural route, had to complete Change of Address orders and notify their correspondents to start addressing their mail to Orem, rather than to Provo. Postal clerks working during the early months of the new post office included Ellen Bellows, Evelyn Terry and Nina Lamb. Later on, Richard McDonald and Chester Kocherhans also served. They handled the burgeoning bur-geoning amount of mail of local residents, resi-dents, as well as mail from Orem's military mil-itary men and women, stationed all over the world in wartime assignments. In the basement room of the Orem City Hall, located just beneath the Orem Post Office, was the Federal Office, which handled the rationing of commodities from gasoline to butter but-ter during the war. The new post office operated as a fourth-class post office' for six months. For the next year it operated as a third-class third-class office, at which time it was advanced to the rank of a second-class post office one of the fastest-growing offices in the state. During those difficult years, the new postmaster and his new employees performed per-formed truly heroic service, as they worked long hours and completed many difficult assignments, handling postal customers and mail distribution in a postal facility, which became increasingly crowded. Under the pressures of World War II, the huge Geneva Steel Plant was completed com-pleted in record time. Overnight, Orem farmers and fruit growers became steel workers many of them maintaining maintain-ing their agricultural pursuits, as well as working regular around-the-clock shifts at the Geneva Steel Plant. The City of Orem experienced a constant con-stant influx of new residents, who either worked at the steel plant, or in other expanding retail or service employment. More residential housing was need ed in Orem to meet the rising need. Therefore, the Orem Trailer Park was built at 850 North State Street. The Christeele Acres Subdivision was constructed con-structed at 1000 South State Street, and the Beverly Place Subdivision was constructed at 650 West 400 North Street. Rural carriers Verne Thurber and Russell Bellows were kept busy, adding new boxes to their routes and assigning rural box numbers to their owners. Meanwhile, the workload at the Orem Post Office increased, as mail was dispatched and received for military mili-tary men and women throughout the world. Among that voluminous mail were letters, reporting the deaths on the battlefield of sixteen men from Orem. As World War II ended, space in the Orem Post Office was at a premium, as new clerks, Fred Fielding and Reese Pulham, replaced Evelyn Terry, who resigned. G. Reed Hacking replaced Russell Bellows on RFD 1. |