Beloved Parsippany mailman making final deliveries

A Boonton mailman's 26-year, 81,120-mile journey through one Parsippany neighborhood is nearing an end.

Tom McMahon is retiring at the end of 2014 after 31 years on the job, the last 26 walking the same beat — the Lake Intervale section of Parsippany, which is part of the Boonton ZIP code.

"I was a sub for about five years before I got it as my own route," said McMahon, 56, a resident of Rockaway Township. "I also cover some consolidated routes in Boonton, but this has been the constant. Lake Intervale has been mine all these years."

SEE PHOTOS: >> http://dailyre.co/1zs7TNe

He's lugged his weathered sack of mail through all kinds of weather to multiple generations of the small, close-knit community, where several homeowners bought in after growing up there.

"I've seen people pass on and kids grow up. Families move on, and new ones come in. It's a special neighborhood and special people," he said. "I wish this was a microcosm for the world. There's magic in the air here. When someone is sick or dies, everyone steps up."

Seniority has earned him the privilege in recent years to claim a shorter or easier route than his daily 13-mile hike. "But I just couldn't see myself ending my career anywhere but here," he said.

As far as the residents are concerned, he walks a two-way street.

"He's just the best, the best," said Tom Marinovich, who at 71 years living on Lake Drive claims to be "indigenous." "Always a smile and a friendly greeting."

"Every day I come out to say hello to him," said Teena Skinner, a 59-year resident ( "I was the youngest one in the neighborhood, now I'm working on being the oldest"). "Just a wonderful guy. It won't be the same without him."

"Such strong friendships," said McMahon, who bought a house in White Meadow Lake 25 years ago after he and his wife, Teresa, were outbid for a Lake Intervale address. "I've been invited to the neighborhood clambake. I've attended several men's nights, pig roasts and other events here, and some of them have been to my house. People offer me Jets tickets, Devils tickets, Rutgers tickets. One guy even asked me to join a trip to Las Vegas for his 40th birthday. You get used to seeing them. They become part of your life."

Each family has a story, he said, and for many of those stories, he is a common thread weaving through the chapters. He recalls the one resident who trained his dog to come out for the mail, which McMahon would wrap with a rubber band and place in the dog's mouth.

"I've been bitten about a dozen times here and there, but just a few nips," he said of the mailman's traditional nemesis. "Nothing bad, and usually it happens when I am covering another route."

Slips and falls are the more troubling occupational hazard befalling letter-carriers.

"I've fallen many times; we all have," he said. "And the first thing any of us does is look around to see who saw you fall."

Then there's the lady who every Christmas serves him a helping of her special veal cutlet parmigiana, which she wraps in a a paper towel for him to eat along the route.

He returns the kindness delivered to him every chance he gets.

"I helped a guy move some furniture into his house once," McMahon said. "Must have been 15 years ago, and he still brings it up."

When one elderly man — who McMahon knew was progressing to senility — locked himself out of his house, McMahon borrowed a ladder from a neighbor's backyard, climbed into a second-floor bedroom and opened the front door.

"Thing was, I didn't think they were home, so when I brought it back, the woman comes out, sees her mailman with her ladder and is like 'What in the world?' " McMahon recalled with a laugh.

Another former resident sends him a Christmas ornament every year from her home in Cyprus.

He admits some of his co-workers see him as a throwback, but they also are envious of the bond he shares with the people he serves.

"They tell me whenever I'm on vacation and they are subbing for me, everyone is asking if I'm OK," McMahon said. "They say 'They really love you over there.' "

"We know when he's on vacation — that's when we start getting other people's mail," quipped Frank Burkhart, a Lake Intervale resident since 1969.

"The Postal Service is all about customer service, and he embodies that principle," Boonton Postmaster Rick Anderson said. "Nobody was better at it than Tom."

McMahon, who grew up in Secaucus, has been thinking about retiring for a few years. The brutal past winter convinced him to finally call it a career. Originally hired as a civil servant, he retires with a federal employee pension, medical benefits and a temporary Social Security bonus.

His wife, however, still will bring in a paycheck as a 31-year teacher in Kinnelon. And his daughter, Jenna, is living at home while she begins a teaching career in the same Kinnelon district.

"They park in the same lot and the schools are side-by-side, so that gave my wife a little boost," McMahon said.

Their son, Tommy, is a nurse at Morristown Medical Center.

Other than walking the dog on Sundays, McMahon will enjoy putting his feet up for a while after his retirement becomes official on Jan. 1.

"The 13-mile trek I currently walk every day has been a blessing and a curse," he said. "My cardiologist is a big fan. My orthopedist, not so much. Past couple of years I was definitely having a little bit of problems in my hips, but healthwise I'm OK."

Hopefully, his feet will hold him up for one last week.

"I was supposed to finish up on the 30th, but my supervisor asked me to work on the 31st," he said. "Why not? I can rest up for a while after that."

An amateur cook, he's thinking strongly about taking culinary courses at the Morris County School of Technology.

"I'm an early bird and wouldn't mind working mornings in a kitchen somewhere," he said.

His friends in Lake Intervale wish him well as they prepare for a bittersweet sendoff. McMahon already delivered his official farewell — a humorous "That's All, Folks" photo card inspired by the "Merry Melodies" cartoon endings.

They also received an unstamped letter of heartfelt thanks from the mailman they consider one of their own.

"Bearing witness to your love and kindness to each other is the most important experience I take with me," he wrote. "On many occasions I've watched a senior couple walking hand-in-hand, like they were on their first date. ... I've felt your grief with the loss of your loved ones. I've also felt your compassion and generosity when my mom passed away. You've touched the heart of a big sentimental Irish mailman. You have a friend for life."

Staff Writer William Westhoven: 973-428-6627; wwesthoven@dailyrecord.com.