Barb McLellan retires from Brussels postmaster position

BY SHAWN LOUGHLIN

After just under 25 years (really almost 30) with the Canada Post Corporation, most recently as the postmaster of the Brussels Post Office, Barb McLellan is retiring. Her last day will be Friday, Nov. 21.

 

McLellan began working for the crown corporation in 1997 on a part-time basis, going full-time a few years later. That was when the clock began running on McLellan’s official employment with the corporation, for which she was honoured back in 2022 for her 20-year commitment to the company.

 

Now, she’s decided to call it quits so that she and her husband Max can spend more time together, with their families and grandchildren and travel extensively. Coincidentally enough, Max called it a career after decades with the Brussels Fire Department, the last 10 years as the chief, on Oct. 31. He is also retiring from his career at Brussels Agromart, with his last day being Friday, Nov. 21 as well.

 

Speaking with The Citizen, Barb said there is an aspect of routine to her job that she’s going to miss; she’s gotten up and come to the post office every day for many years, so not doing that may feel strange for a bit. When pressed on it, however, Barb said that what she’s really going to miss is seeing members of the community every day.

 

She said that she has an intimate relationship with so many of the residents of Brussels; she knows their husbands and wives and children’s names, she knows where they work, she knows what kind of car they drive, all because she’s been sorting their mail for so long. Her customers have become her friends over the years, so they will be who she misses most after she delivers her last piece of mail.

 

After starting with the company in 1997, finding full-time employment shortly thereafter, Barb said she never would have thought that she would be running the entire office one day, and yet, in 2019, she was named the postmaster, a position she will retire from on Nov. 21.

 

Barb is a Mildmay native, but she has lived in the Brussels area for more than 40 years now. In retirement, she and Max hope to move to their new beach house near Port Elgin when the time is right. Recently, they were able to snap up a dream home near Lake Huron, something they had wanted for many years.

 

Max and other members of Barb’s family aim to celebrate her on her last day, so, courtesy of Max and the gang, come by the post office on Friday, Nov. 21 between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. for coffee and cake and one last chance to chat with Barb (in an official capacity) before she rides off into the sunset.