Name: Sachiko Toyofuku
Age: 74
Occupation: Retired Pearl City postmaster
Posts: Vice president, National Postmasters Association
Hobbies: Knitting, stamp collecting

"The Post Office Department was part of the federal government in those days and not self-supporting as it is now," recalled Toyofuku, who retired last March as Hawaii's senior postal-service employee with 531/2 years of service.

Toyofuku, a Honomu native and Hilo High graduate, was Aiea's acting postmaster in 1960 from February to June when her appointment by President Eisenhower was confirmed. She spent 30 years running the Aiea station and became Pearl City's postmaster when the Aiea operation was consolidated.

"I enjoyed working and if it wasn't challenging, I wouldn't have stayed so long," she said. "I miss the hustle and bustle, and the people. But I'm slowly getting used to staying at home."

Toyofuku's postal career began as a clerk in Aiea.

"It was a two-person operation and we handled all the mail by hand," she said. "We had 600 to 700 pieces of registered mail going out per day during the war.

"It has changed a lot since then," she added. "At Pearl City alone, we had 120 to 125 employees. I can't even estimate how many pieces we handled per day. Of course, everything is automated now."

Toyofuku is contemplating ways to utilize her sudden wealth of free time.

"I like to sew and knit but right now, what I enjoy most is having the time to take a nap," she said. "I'll probably do some kind of volunteer work, too."

When she became a postmaster, Toyofuku said about half the positions were filled by women.

"It was mostly in the small offices, one-man country operations," she noted. "In management, it was hard for women to get ahead. Times have really changed."

As a postal employee, Toyofuku naturally became interested in collecting stamps.

"I have several thousand stamps, mostly U.S., going back to the 1930s," she said. "It's kind of extensive and I'm hoping one of the grandkids will take it over."