Dedicated to the people
A typical day as a UPS Package Delivery Driver for Rugby’s Jack Knutson began around 11 a.m. After making an average of 120 delivery stops, the day would end at approximately 10 p.m.
Knutson had this same routine from October of 1983 until August 1 of this year.
After having a seizure in January, Knutson decided to retire from UPS due to medical restraints.
“I wouldn’t have stayed as long if I didn’t like it. I just loved the people,” Knutson said, explaining that his favorite part of his job was seeing each person he delivered to. “That’s the part I miss now, seeing people and visiting. I was used to visiting over 100 businesses a day. They were my job.”
Knutson recalls seeing certain families grow and change during his years as a delivery driver. There are people in the community who he remembers as children, delivering to their parents. He saw those children grow into adults, started delivering to them, and was able to see their children grow up.
One of his favorite memories while on the job was delivering before the Father/Daughter pageant in town. On one of his stops, a family with three girls received a package. All three of the girls came running out to show Knutson their dresses. “They were all so excited,” he said. “I remember those girls, every time I’d deliver to them, they would come running. Each one wanted to be the one to get the package and carry it inside. They would all take turns. A lot of other kids along the way have done the same thing.”
Knutson once received the Chamber of Commerce’s Customer Service Person of the Month because of his dedication to both his job and the community.
“The business people [in Rugby] miss him. He was always happy. If he was having a bad day, you would never know it. He saw the same people everyday, but it was always like he was meeting you for the first time,” Shelley Block, former Chamber director and now HAMC volunteer services coordinator said. “Thank you, Jack, for your service to our community.”
The one part of his job that Knutson will not miss is driving in the winter. According to Knutson, however, times have changed since he first began in ’83. When he first started, he would have to make deliveries in hazardous conditions, sometimes during snowstorms when he couldn’t see the roads. “Over the years, vehicles have gotten better though. Some of them actually have heat,” he said with a laugh.
Now, after almost a month of retirement, Knutson doesn’t know what is next for him or if he will ever return to work. “Right now, I’m still trying to figure that out,” he said. “I don’t know. I’m not used to this part [retirement] yet, so I can’t say.”
Some retirement plans that he does have include visiting the lake, fixing his old pick-up, traveling, and watching his grandkids play sports.