Being a part of an extended ohana that serves the community is a priority with a mother and son who are postmasters on Maui.

Michelle Almeida, Kihei’s postmaster since 2018, and her son Chris Harris, who has managed the Puunene post office since 2022, are instilled with a devotion to duty that extends beyond their professions. They both also joined the Hawaii Army National Guard, which included periods of active duty in Afghanistan.

Harris said in an email interview, “I think that we both have a deep-rooted sense of duty to country and service to our local communities. … We’ve been part of hurricane response preparedness, volcanic eruption and flood relief, and many other projects here in Hawaii over the years.”

Both were officially installed as postmasters along with six others at a recent ceremony on Maui that had been delayed by COVID-19 and other operational priorities, said U.S. Postal Service spokesman Duke Gonzales.

Almeida first joined the U.S. Postal Service on Oahu in 1996 on Oahu, and moved to Wailuku to work in 2007. She signed up with the Hawaii Army National Guard in 2006 to help people during times of disaster and emergency, which took her away from her postal duties for about 60-day periods. Almeida learned construction skills because “I was drawn to be able to help build in communities” that included Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Afghanistan and wherever the guard was deployed.

Harris joined the guard in 2009 (serving for 12 years) and the postal service in 2010. The day after he was to start as a postal clerk in Makawao, he received deployment orders to serve in Afghanistan and felt he should resign to open up the postal position for another person. He was rehired as a mail carrier in Lahaina 2015. Currently both he and his mother are inactive and honorably discharged from the guard, he said.

Harris wanted to follow in his mother’s footsteps as a postal worker, admiring what she accomplished with hard work and perseverance. “Practically speaking, we make sure that the right people are in the right place at the right time doing the right tasks so that the mail keeps moving all day every day, rain or shine,” he said.

Ultimately, though, he was drawn to the career because of “memories from my childhood of helping to sort cans at the annual Letter Carrier’s Food Drive and post office employee picnics at the local beach.”

As her son was growing up, Almeida said she would always talk about her postal ohana, “the people I worked with. They are so dedicated and committed … doing 12-hour days, and yet they still maintain that pride in the link we provide in our community. I don’t think I ever sugar-coated it because he knows about the time and effort that goes into it.”

She joined the postal service because “I like being able to put things into place” to make sure the job gets done, being able to connect people, and interacting with them, Almeida said.

“I always talked about the ‘glimmers’ every day, where you see somebody gets a birthday card or a package that they thought had been lost and it’s their granddaughter’s birthday present … Or to make something happen for somebody, to even help somebody fix their address so their packages don’t keep getting returned, to be able to troubleshoot and make those connections for people.”

Without this aloha and sense of ohana among post office workers, it would be difficult with the long hours, weather challenges and the danger of dog bites, which are a risk even with the leash law and fenced-in yards, Almeida said.

“You don’t have the worry about getting stuck out there by yourself or worry about not being able to do something, because for us, until everybody comes back and the job has been successful on every route, nobody goes home until the job is done. We talk about it being like a family, everybody has strengths and weaknesses and things that they’re good at, and being able to help support each other and communicate and capitalize on that.”

Almeida said when her son decided on his career, she advised him: “Just give 110% to what your task is while enabling everyone around you to be successful … There’s an operational objective getting all of the mail delivered, but it’s critical to me that as much as possible we also support our personnel. What’s the saying? ‘A rising tide lifts all boats.’ Being able to uplift and better everything around you.”

Danielle Boteilho, a third-generation USPS employee, was also installed at the ceremony as a Makawao postmaster, following in the footsteps of her grandmother. Others included David Boydstun (Lahaina post office), Jun Cariazo (Kula), Brandyann Moore (Kaunakakai) and Marlene Nagata (Paia).

A press release said Boteilho’s grandfather Edward Boteilho was a postal employee for 41 years, serving as a postmaster in Haiku for eight years and in Kahului for 10. Her grandmother Anita Boteilho, an employee for 28 years, was a postmaster in Paia for nine years and in Makawao for four. Her father, Gregory Boteilho Sr., worked for 41 years and retired as a supervisor at Kihei.

“My family was elated when they learned that I was named the postmaster of Makawao,” said Boteilho. “I’m very honored to continue my family’s legacy of postal service. I take pride in the fact that I’m serving as postmaster in the same office that was once overseen by my grandma. That is very special to me.”