Ernest "Ernie" Topness was one of the longest-tenured mail carriers in the entire country. While he has officially lost that title, I'm sure he won't mind enjoying his retirement. It's hard to imagine doing anything for 65 years, let alone working for the same company for that long but that's exactly what Ernie has done and his retirement is more than well deserved.

Ernie has been carrying and delivering mail in the Cedar Rapids area for the past 65 years. This past Friday (August 30), he hung up his mailbag for the last time.

In April 2023, KCRG reported that while delivering mail, he had driven over 3 million miles and never had an accident. 1 year ago, USPS celebrated him becoming the second longest-tenured mail carrier in the entire country.

Ernie began delivering mail in 1957 and spent his entire career in Cedar Rapids. When he first came to Cedar Rapids, he just decided to stay.

Ernest "Ernie" Topness

According to KCRG, at 91 years old, Ernest completed his final route, which had a surprise waiting for him at the end. Ernie's friends and family were there to share hugs and give congratulations to him on his final route.

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Craig Kroupa has been receiving his mail from Ernie for decades. Craig's father was also a mail carrier and Ernie became something of a father figure to Craig when he lost his dad.

"He’s very special. He’s a very special man. When Ernie became my mailman, that was heaven-sent because Ernie is about the closest thing to my dad."

As you can imagine, Ernie is a bit of a local celebrity in his community and he has built some incredible relationships during his time working for the post office. One of his children is Pati Williams and she told KCRG about his incredible work ethic and some of the relationships he's made in 65 years.

"We go out to lunch, and this one guy bought us lunch one day. He’s like, oh Ernie! He never missed a day. He hardly ever called in. I mean, even in the snow, when the young people would call in, he would show up."

As far as retirement goes, it hasn't exactly hit Ernie yet. This hardworking, 91-year-old, Korean War veteran, did admit that he would miss seeing everyone on his route.

"Oh, it’s been a great day. I’ve been visiting with so many people, been out visiting. I’ll miss all these people out here. It’s been a pleasure delivering mail to all these people. They’re all so friendly."

Ernie has 4 children, and 11 grandchildren, and had reached over 5,500 hours of sick leave in 2020. That number has increased over the past 4 years and the USPS will boost that into his retirement.

Congratulations Ernie!