I meet Tony Owens in the church parking lot off Monitor Drive. He’s been going there at about 2 p.m. most days for the past 30 years to eat lunch and take a break from his job as a UPS driver.  So it’s there we talk. Owen steps down out of his brown truck in his brown uniform, his “browns ,” as he says, and we get into it. What’s it like to retire after three decades delivering packages to the Park Meadows community?  He’s got mixed feelings, he says. Retirement is not an easy decision, and while he’s loved the work, he really loves the people. Every few minutes he interrupts his flow of thought to mention how much he loves Park Meadows and its people. They’re good, he says. They are kind and thoughtful, and he’ll miss them. He calls me a week after our conversation to tell me again, just wants to make sure I understand: These people are friends. I believe him because these people are the reason I’m standing in the April chill talking to a man I’ve never met about his career retirement. His wife emailed me first, then several Park Meadows residents sent me messages, called and left voicemails, and they continue to call me after the interview, asking me how the article is coming and when will I be done?  I get it. You all love Tony Owens.  Tony Owens’ route starts at Park City Hospital, goes onto Kearns then covers all of Park Meadows. He also delivers to Fresh Market and the surrounding strip mall. Credit: Jonathan Herrera/Park Record And how couldn’t you? After a half hour I see what I need to see. Here’s a kind, soft-spoken guy you can set your watch to. I’m not saying I’d take a bullet for him just yet, but if I saw him five days a week for 30 years, well, … what caliber?  Owens lives in Riverton and starts his day with an early a.m. route in Salt Lake, then heads to Park City around 9 a.m. He starts at the hospital, comes onto Kearns, does the schools, then all of Park Meadows. “And then the market as well, the strip mall through the market,” he says. “I’ve been doing it so long. … There’s a lot of people that I’ve just known for 20, 30 years. And so you develop relationships, you know, see people every day. It’s good. It’s kind of like leaving your friends.” That’s why all the ado: Hellos and smiles pile up over years into something real. It’s amazing the kinds of relationships you build with consistency, he says. He’s been working for UPS since 1992, as long as I’ve been alive, and running Park City since 1994, more than enough time to imprint onto the fabric of small town rhythms. One Park Meadows resident, Jane Gorrell, tells me he knows the animals, too. “One day I was rollerblading when a stray dog started following me,” Gorrell says. “I was afraid that if I went too far, the dog would be lost. … Tony was driving by, and when I told him … he said, ‘Just put the dog in my truck. I know where he lives, and I’ll take him home.’ Now how is that for delivery service?” The Park Meadows portion of the route alone is 20 miles. The cul de sacs add up, Owens says, and honestly, the place hasn’t changed that much. Yes, the roads are different, there’s more traffic, S.R. 224 is wider now, but to his eye, Park Meadows is more or less the same. There are more people and more packages — the route initially included a Salt Lake portion until about ’95 when that part of Park City had enough package volume to sustain a whole day itself — but the feeling of new development has mostly come from the city’s fringes, he says. In Park Meadows, things feel the same. There were memorable days. The Olympics stand out, he says. The route included Main Street then. He remembers having to trudge through the snow at 6 a.m., before anyone was awake, and having all the keys to the businesses so he could let himself in. Some snow days are tough when the plows just can’t get ahead of it, but by and large, it’s been good work.  Tony Owens decided to retire from a three-decade career with UPS after the company offered a compelling severance package. He loves delivering to the people of Park Meadows and says he has mixed feelings about the ride coming to an end. Credit: Jonathan Herrera/Park Record Come Monday, Owens will be gone. Friday was his last day. Why retire? UPS offered a severance package that felt right to take. He had planned to be on a few more years but decided now is as good a time as any. His wife’s on board, too. He’ll spend time with his grandkids, figure it out. Play a lot of softball. Stay in Riverton, where they’ve lived for 26 years.  And someone will take his place, the most senior driver to bid on it, he says, and he expects a lot of drivers may want it. He hopes they’ll drive slow, like he did, and give pedestrians a wide berth. He hopes they’ll appreciate the mix of newer and older houses, the varied builds, the people who are not just people but an extended family.  “I’ve always tried to be kind and considerate, respectful of people,” he says. “I look at it like — it’s their neighborhood, you know? I’m here to serve them. And it’s been great serving this neighborhood all the years.”  Over the course of our chats, it hits him: This is really over.  “I feel like I’m moving to another country,” he says. “I’ve been getting up at 5 every morning, coming in, putting my browns on and going to work for 34 years. It’s going to be weird. I really, really enjoyed it.” The post After a career driving the neighborhood, UPS driver hangs up his browns appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less