A Postman Who Delivered More Than Just Mail Takes a New Route

Delivering the mail has been more than just a job for Terry P. Stewart. For more than nine years, until his decision this month to change careers, Stewart made the rounds five days a week to 289 homes in Pacific Palisades. Along the way, he made a lot of friends.

In a farewell letter to his customers, who live on Sunset Boulevard, Fiske Street and Galloway Street, Stewart, 36, told of his plan to leave his job and return to the classroom this fall. He also offered his thanks for the cold sodas, cups of hot tea, homemade goodies and Christmas kindness over the years.

“I have seen them as my friends,” the Culver City resident said. “I was blessed to be a part of their lives and be accepted into their families.”

“In times past, the mailman was someone everyone knew and was a part of the community, and that’s what I wanted to be,” he said.

Stewart’s day usually included a stop at the home of Grace Stuart. To the elderly widow, the young mail carrier was an important source of sympathy and friendship after the death of her husband. Often, they would talk about life or take a few moments to pray. Stuart called him the “Postman Pastor” and “Mailman Minister.”

And aptly enough, Stewart will attend the Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta and hopes to someday work as a minister.

Dr. Philip Westbrook has received the 1992 Nathaniel Kleitman Distinguished Service Award from the Assn. of Professional Sleep Societies.

Dr. Westbrook was honored for exemplary service in the field of sleep research and sleep disorders medicine. He is director of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center’s Sleep Disorders Center in Los Angeles.

Jena Mori of Los Angeles participated in the National Young Leaders Conference in Washington last month.

Mori, who will be a senior at Westchester High School this fall, was chosen for demonstrating academic achievement, leadership and citizenship. She was among 350 high school students chosen nationwide to attend the six-day conference.

Father Allan Figueroa Deck of Loyola Marymount University’s Center for Pastoral Studies received the Virgilio Elizondo Award from the Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians of the United States.

The award, given annually to writers in the area of U.S. Hispanic theology, commended Deck for his writings in theology and pastoral care. He also was recognized for his leadership in co-founding the academy in 1987 and serving as its first president.

Robert S. Wilson has been named president of the UCLA Foundation, the nonprofit corporation that accepts and administers private contributions to the university.

He succeeds John E. Anderson, who will serve as chairman of the Board of Trustees.

Other newly elected members of the Board of Trustees include Westside residents William Bitting, Elwood Buffa, Charles Gelfand, Geraldine Hemmerling, Marcia Howard, Dr. Harrison Latta, Rhonda Fleming Mann, Dr. Laurence Seigler, Andrea Shapiro, William Finestone and James Osterholt.