Diller honored for years of service, safety as mail carrier

by Beth Kraft

Wayne Diller has driven a rural route delivering mail for the Mondovi Post Office for the past 24 years, and he’s enjoyed every scenic mile. 

“It’s kind of been my ‘second life,’” mused Diller of working as a mail carrier. “And it’s been a good one.”

Last week Diller received a plaque to recognize his 35 years total of service to the United States Postal Service, presented by Mondovi Postmaster Kim Haas and Tracy Franseen, Manager of Post Office Operations, on Tuesday, July 21.

The honor also came along with his induction into the One Million Mile Club for accident-free driving all these years.

“It’s an honor for someone to get that without an accident,” remarked Haas of the distinction.

Diller agrees there are a lot of things he has to watch out for when stopping at people’s mailboxes. Rural roads are host to various hazards such as blind corners and hills, large equipment, wildlife, and the speed at which motorists can travel in places.

The Mondovi native jokingly attributes his standing accident-free status to “luck,” and to defensive driving.

Diller began his USPS career in Eau Claire in 1980, then transferred to Independence for a time until a position finally opened up in his hometown of Mondovi in 1990.

Working as a postal carrier is actually Diller’s second career.

He and his wife, Mary Jane, and father, Francis Diller, ran Diller Auto Company in Mondovi for 25 years. The Chrysler/Plymouth dealership was located on East Main Street at the site of Interstate Building Supply, which purchased the dealership from the Dillers in 1987.

Diller took the state test required of Wisconsin state employees in 1980 just to see if he could pass it.

“It was kind of a lark, actually. The next thing I knew they were calling me from the Eau Claire Post Office to come to work,” he chuckled.

Diller’s Mondovi route takes him on a 100-mile loop to the Gilmanton area through Modena and towards Durand six days a week.

He said he particularly enjoys the beautiful scenery driving through the hills in Buffalo County and interacting with the residents on his route.

“The people on my route are kind of like extended family,” he said, noting he always knows about birthdays, anniversaries and other big events in people’s lives.

Thanks to his many years on that route and his status as a longtime resident, Diller estimates he knows about three-quarters of the people he delivers mail to personally.

Diller, who graduated with Mondovi High School’s Class of 1962, is contemplating retirement, but he isn’t ready to park his delivery car just yet.

It would probably take an illness or getting sick of work to get him to retire, Diller speculated.

“So far that hasn’t happened,” he said. “[The postal service] gave me a good life and they’ve treated me really well for thirty-five years.”