(lina 21.2002
15
m n rP T n T J n e w s
o say that Larry Wortman felt
apprehensive back in 1993— when
he learned the U.S. Postal Service
was transferring him to Dufur—
,JI L
would be a major understatement.
He was terrified.
He was an openly gay man who, after mov
ing from the outback of Montana, lived in cities
like Seattle, Honolulu, Eugene and Anchorage,
Alaska. He had worked his way up the Postal
Service corporate ladder, becoming rhe district
supervisor for the agency’s employee assistance
program based in Portland. But downsizing
resulted in most of the positions being cut, and
he was offered three different postmaster jobs—
all of them in small towns.
Dufur, located 14 miles south of The Dalles,
was the only one Wortman was even remotely
familiar with, he notes with his trademark
chuckle. He made the move.
“A friend had moved to The Dalles a couple
of years earlier,” he says. “I was familiar with it
and knew where it was without having to look
at a map. Plus I could get away to
Portland... fast.”
Wortman’s greatest fear, believe it or not, was
not how people would react to a gay man. (He
had a plan for that.) More than anything, he
admits he was afraid he wouldn’t he able to do
the job. So when he arrived, he turned to two
personal attributes: honesty and humor.
“I just told everybody that 1 had no damn
idea what I was doing and it was going to be a
learning experience for all of us,” he laughs. “1
was upfront and honest about my lack of knowl
edge, and 1 found that using that approach
worked best.”
That method obviously was successful, as
Wortman and the residents of Dufur began a
nine-year relationship that culminated with a
communitywide potluck for him June 9. After
33 years of service to the United States, both in
the military and with the Postal Service, he is
now a retired man.
Looking back on it now, he cannot
believe how he grew to love the folks of
Dufur. Residents who live there do not have
their mail delivered to their homes but
instead go to the post office each day to pick
it up from their box.
That means Wortman had daily contact
with many of the 600-plus people who call
Dufur home. He got to know them. They got to
know him.
“We are going to miss Larry so much,” says
Nikki Beacham p, a longtime resident of
Dufur. “We love him. He is one of the nicest
guys you will ever meet, and he did every
thing for everybody. He will never be able to
be replaced."
Wortman is not one to brag about himself,
S pecial D elivery
Dufur postmaster retires after 33 years of service
by Tom Steven son
Although Larry Wortman vowed not to hide his sexual orientation, he says no one ever asked
• He started a tradition of opening the doors
but the folks around Dufur shared several fond
before 8 a.m. just so residents could take care of
memories:
• He used to take mail out to the cars of their postal business before leaving for work.
Those type of things are tricks of the trade
elderly and disabled people who had a hard time
Wortman learned from his father, who was the
getting into the post office.
postmaster
in Gallatin Gateway, Mont. “He
• When elderly people would not come in
took care of the people, and they took care of
and get their mail for a couple of days and had
him," he says. “He
not told him they would
never had an enemy in
be gone, he made sure
"We are going to miss Lorry
the world.”
someone checked up on
so
much.
We
love
him.
He
is
one
And although doing
them.
those nice things might
• He would pay the
o f the nicest guys you w ill ever
have endeared him to
postage due out of his
the people of Dufur,
own pocket for many meet, and he
everything
there was still the issue
of the customers, then
for
everybody."
of his sexuality. It all
just leave them a little
note.
— Nikki Beachamp turned out to ** for
naught.
• He made sure he
Wortman knows for certain that some resi
had a huge supply of sugar-free gum for each of
the youngsters who came into the post office. dents of Dufur despise gay people, yet he made
it a point to treat them with the same respect
One Dufur High School student, upon learning
he was going to retire, sat down and wrote him as everyone else he came into contact with in
a letter saying he always would have a place in his workplace. He made a pact with himself
her heart and expressing how much she appreci that he never would hide his sexual orienta
tion— he has rainbow license plate covers on
ated his constant teasing.
d
his car, including one that reads, “Friends of
Dorothy”— and that, if anyone ever asked, he
would be honest.
But no one ever did. “To this day 1 have
never got into the conversation at work,” Wort
man says.
Still, he is quick to note that some residents
have told him outside the post office that it was
no secret. “I’m sure they know,” he adds. “It’s a
small town, and people talk. If a few know some
thing, everyone knows. But if something would
have happened to me— if 1 would have come to
work and found the word ‘fag’ spray-painted on
the building or something— I truly do believe
that most of the people of Dufur would have been
just as disgusted as me. Fortunately it didn’t .. .but
it was nice to know that people would have sup
ported me if it would have.”
When Wortman took the job in Dufur, he
chose to live in The Dalles, which has a popula
tion of more than 10,000. There still was not
much of a gay social life, but he says he was for
tunate to find a small group of gay friends and an
even larger group of gay-friendly people to build
a supportive social network.
He even played host to a foreign exchange
student a few years back, which he called “an
incredible experience.” He also has been clean
and sober for 27 years (he says he actually first
applied for the post office in a “blackout”) and
has a long list of friends he has met through
recovery.
Finally, he also is known for keeping in touch
with nearly everyone he ever has met. His circle
of friends is large. Many of the folks in Dufur just
made it larger.
By not trying to be anything but the man he
is, Wortman made many friends, as was evident
not only at the retirement party, where he
received endless gifts and well wishes, but also
during the course of the past year as he struggled
through some medical and other personal
dilemmas. In a period of about 12 months he
had an angioplasty, hernia surgery and a burst
appendix; his mother passed away; and his con
stant companion, his house cat, died after 16
years with him.
The people of Dufur, he says, took care of
him. “They sent cards, they sent food.. .they just
went out of their way to let me know they
cared."
Now Wortman is ready to travel and enjoy
gardening and art projects at home. For many
years he promised himself that as soon as he
retired he would move back to the city.
That, however, is not going to happen. “I’m
happy where I’m at,” he says. J H
T o m S T E V E N S O N is a Portland free-lance writer
and a full-time Portland State University student
who can be reached at ruraltom @ yahoo.com .
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