Delivering for her customers
<p>Judy Breaden, of Post Falls, talks about her recent purchase of a 2011 Chevrolet Equinox. The retired newspaper carrier didn't miss a single day of work in nearly 12 years at The Press.</p>
<p>Judy Breaden recalls the relationships she made with customers during more than a decade of delivering newspapers.</p>
Judy Breaden, soon to be 67, says she won't miss it.
"I'm an old lady," the spunky, witty, laser-tongued Post Falls woman said. "I don't need to be out there in a foot-and-a-half, two feet of snow falling on the ice."
Out there is Rathdrum; better yet, driving up and down Nagel Road, Nebraska Street, the Willow Creek Mobile Park and back again, every night like clockwork, seven days a week a dozen years running.
But no more.
Breaden, Press newspaper delivery woman extraordinaire, hung up her rubber bands Jan. 22.
Imagine a five-hour routine, never missing a day for 12 years, and not missing it.
She won't, she swears.
"I've worked since I was 5 years old," she said. "Why shouldn't I retire?"
Make that retire, retire.
Breaden took the job after a 20-year career as a jet engine mechanic in the United States Navy - a job with 100-hour weeks that stationed her abroad - to help pay off her house.
Beginning in 1999, bedtime became 5:30 p.m. She woke at midnight, picked up 250 papers in Hayden by 1 a.m., then drove to Rathdrum and back, finishing by 5:30 a.m. - 40 miles a day while listening to Christian radio.
Healthful, she said, peaceful.
And very, very few complaints from her subscribers.
On the occasional missed delivery: "I figured I didn't miss them, they just wanted another paper," she said.
On late delivery: "It's called production" delays, she quipped.
She thought about calling in a substitute around three years ago when she came down with shingles, a chicken pox virus that can strike people over 60.
But nah.
To celebrate her retirement, Breaden bought a 2011 Chevy Equinox on Wednesday. Turns out, the two routes wore down her Chevy Aveo, 90,000 miles later. The new ride she'll take to visit friends on the West Coast.
Don't let her fool you, she'll miss parts of it. Customers are her friends now. They waved when they saw her coming, and sent her ample Christmas tips every year.
"I won't miss the route," she insisted. "I'll miss the people. The people and all the furry animals."
Carole Hutchings wrote The Press thanking Judy for "prompt and efficient service."
"God Bless you, Judy!" she said.
Carriers like Breaden don't come often enough, the circulation department said.
"If we'd have gotten rid of her," Press Circulation Manager Dan Phillips hypothesized on Judy leaving on any other terms, "we would have had people canceling."
Meantime, Breaden's sleep schedule is back to normal. Mostly.
It's time for "some young buck," to take the routes over, she said.
And come summer, she's going to get in her new car for a road trip she calls retirement.