DALLAS — Triple-digit temperatures remind Carla Gates of one year ago.
On June 20, 2023, her husband, 66-year-old Eugene Gates, died at work. He was a United States Postal Service letter carrier for 36 years. Eugene was walking from door-to-door delivering mail in the Lakewood neighborhood of Dallas when he collapsed. The heat index exceeded 110 degrees that day.
“When my husband died, his body temperature was 104 and that was after they cooled him off, so you can imagine,” Carla Gates said.
Since his death, Carla Gates has gone to the White House and spoken with elected officials about making federal change for USPS employees across the country.
“I would like to see for them to start an earlier shift,” she said. “I would like to see for them to eliminate those box trucks with no air conditioning.”