Post said he'll "miss the people I've been working with for 35 years" -- people in city departments and residents of the city.

"I have enjoyed helping families throughout the years who have lost loved ones in fatal accidents," he said.

In those situations, Post said being able to provide family members with information concerning "why and how the collision occurred hopefully gives them some way of helping to deal with their grief."

One of the retirement gifts presented to Post at the reception was a directional sign with arrows detailing the distances from Norman to Seattle, New York and France.

Post plans to take some time off before traveling to those places. Post was born in New York, and said he wants to return to Whidbey Island to visit old friends.

He's twice been to France, and is excited about going back, he said.

And Post said he looks forward to visiting his mother and sister and brother-in-law, all who live in Seattle.

Post met his wife Pam when she began working as a records clerk for the department, and the two married in 1981. They have two daughters, Myla, a senior at Oklahoma State University and Mara, a freshman at the University of Texas.

Tom Blakey 366-3540 tblakey@normantranscript.com