FAMILIAR FACES: Ram Rewah, Winter Garden Post Office

Ramanand “Ram” Rewah is saying goodbye to his 20-year career with the United States Postal Service’s Winter Garden branch. For two decades, customers have visited his window to mail packages and buy stamps — and always were greeted with a broad smile and friendly service. The last day scheduled for this sales and service associate was this Wednesday, April 30. He said he will miss his coworkers and his customers, many of whom he knows by name.

Rewah’s postal career spans much longer than 20 years. His first position with the post office was 35 years ago as a letter carrier in Queens, New York, where he took to heart the trusty saying, “neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night” would keep mail carriers from doing their job.

“They said if you’re going to deliver up north … then you can deliver anywhere,” Rewah said. “I delivered in blizzards, minus 10, minus 15 degrees.”

His city route took him from basements to high-rise apartments and everything in between.

“It’s called ‘park and loop,’” he said. “You park at the junction and then (deliver to) four blocks, go back to the (vehicle) and then go to the next junction.”

This was in the days before the postal service was automated, and every piece of mail had to be manually processed, he said.

Four years later, he transferred to the Brooklyn Processing and Distribution Center for a warmer indoor position that included mail processing, mail sorting by machine and time keeping for about 75 drivers. With a knack for customer service, Rewah moved to the window at the Midwood Post Office. Another transfer took him back to the Brooklyn P&DC for five years — and then he made the decision to move to the warmer climate of Florida.

By 2002, he was at the big Mid-Florida distribution center in Lake Mary, working all hours and discovering a new natural hazard: hurricanes.

After a few years in Lake Mary and one year in Mascotte, Rewah found his postal home for the next two decades in Winter Garden. He has been at the counter of the main post office on West Colonial Drive since 2005.

Rewah has been an excellent employee — the proof is in the rows of perfect-score gold star pins on his lanyard, the folders full of commendations and certificates of appreciation, his perfect attendance award, and the multiple years-of-service letters.

“I respect this job so much,” he said. “I was able to make money, buy a house, my son got master’s degree in health admin and daughter got nursing degree. I was able to do that. I thank God for health and strength, and thanks to my family for the support, and then the employees and management for always making the job pleasant.”

TIME TO RETIRE

Retiring doesn’t mean slowing down for Rewah.

He plans to engage in humanitarian work in his retirement years. Originally from Guyana, South America, he remembers the hardships of having little access to clean water as a child.

“I am planning directly to be like a well,” he said. “People who have shortage, no clean water in any area. I would not limit it to only the United States. When I was little, 11, 12 years old, we had to walk like half a mile sometimes to get pure, clean water. So, if I can do that to help people, that would be one of my missions.”

He also is a Hindu priest and wants to give sermons in local temples.

“I used to go out and do services, and I’ll have more time to do that,” he said.

He wants to spend time with Vidya, his wife of 36 years, who he met in Guyana; as well as his three adult children.

He has an accounting degree and might put that to good use in his spare time. He also loves the outdoors and frequently can be found walking, jogging or playing soccer.