For 37 years, Katherine Carpenter delivered everything from letters and packages to urns and live bees in her capacity as a mail carrier for the United States Postal Service for the more than 400 condos and townhouses near Tuckerman Lane in Rockville. On Aug. 28, her final day in uniform, she had one wish: to leap into The Gables neighborhood’s beloved community pool.
Carpenter, 58, posted in The Gables’ Facebook group, where she’s been a longtime member, saying she planned to take the plunge at 4 p.m. on her retirement day, and invited anyone to join or watch.
That sunny afternoon, nearly a dozen people gathered, residents told Bethesda Today. As Carpenter splashed into the water, still in uniform, three women jumped in with her.
“They mean as much to me as I do to them … people in the community. I feel that they are my family,” Carpenter said, stifling tears as she reflected on the love she’s received from her customers. “I am having a hard time because how do you tell your family goodbye?”
