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The price of a postage stamp in 1974 was a mere 15-cents and though the first email was sent two years earlier, that form of communication wouldn’t become popular until some 20 years later. In February of ’74, Barbara Streisand’s The Way We Were was at the top of the Pop charts, President Richard Nixon was on his way to being impeached and in Whitewater, Mont., a small, shy young woman was at her first day at a job which would become a career for more than the next four decades.

“I was 22 years old and kind of freaked out and it was a little scary for me,” said Patty Young, Whitewater Postmaster for the past 43 years. In that time, Young said she has raised three wonderful children — and a foster son — who have in turn made her a grandmother nine times over, met thousands of people and made thousands of friends. The Post Office in Whitewater services just over 80 customers on one side of the building and the Young’s family home on the other.

“I have never had to worry about getting the car warmed up to go to work,” Young joked.

In April of 2014, Young was honored by the United States Postal Service with a 40-year service award and at the time she wasn’t sure how much longer she would stay in the position. Last week in Whitewater, on two different instances, Young celebrated her retirement as Post Master after recently deciding “the time just felt right.”

Young was encouraged to take the position in the early 70’s by her father, Howie Hammond. She said Howie wanted her to take the position because he wanted his daughter to come out of her shell and blossom as a person and attempts to make Patty less shy by exposing her to new things included a trip to Europe…but nothing seemed to work.

“Then I got this job and you can’t be shy here,” Young said. “You have to step up, talk to people and really take charge. Getting the job was probably the best thing that ever happened to me.”

Young said the confidence gained through the position played a large part in her staying on for so long, but the main reason for the longevity was mostly the people she worked with and for.

“You get to know everyone and it is actually like a big family here,” Young said.

Young said she grew up being friends with Dixie Dunbar – Hammond would bring his family north from Big Sandy in the summer to Whitewater, his hometown, to work on the farm before returning home in September to resume work as an educator – and when Young took the post office position, Dixie’s mother, Shirley, was a route driver.

“It was like having another mother,” Young said. “And then Rex and Betty Kaufman would drop me off from Malta, and they're like another set of parents, and it was like they were all taking care of me.”

Shirley Dunbar would work with Young until 2013 when she retired from the position at the age of 84 (her son, Pat, picking up the reigns and taking over.) Dunbar’s retirement is the tip of the iceberg of things that have changed with the Post Office and in Whitewater, Young said. When she first started working for USPS, Young said that Montanan’s mail was all handled by Montanans and carrying the mail had an extremely personal touch. These days, Young said mail is shipped out of state, sorted and brought back into the state …that is at least when people are using the postal service.

“People don’t even send mailed letters anymore, it’s all Email,” Young said. “I don’t like that. To me, it’s not as personal as a handwritten letter.”

Young’s plans for retirement include spending time with her grandchildren in Malta, a trip to Hawaii soon with family and lots of scrapbooking. Ashley Green is taking over the position in Whitewater and though Young enjoyed her 43 years of work, Young had some pointed advice for her replacement.

“I told her ‘don’t you stay here for 43 years’,” laughed Young. “I have nine grandchildren in Malta and they are doing all types of things, but I have missed most of them so far. I have 2,660 sick leave hours, never took sick leave in my life. I had 400 and some hours of annual leave I didn’t take, I just didn’t go anywhere. I told Ashley, ‘don’t stay here until you are way over it,’ … and I am way over it.”

Though she knew she was ready to retire, Young knew she would be doing so with a bit of a heavy heart. Though she won’t miss the many technological changes that have been made since 1974, or what it takes to run a rural post office these days, she said she will undoubtedly miss one big thing, the people.

“I am used to seeing them all the time,” Young said. “I am used to seeing these people, my friends, on a daily basis and visiting with them. Those are the fun things and things I love to do and I will miss that.”