It’s Christmas Eve at the Sonoita Post Office parking lot, and something is amiss.
The brown UPS truck is parked in its usual spot for the ritual sorting of packages for delivery.
Only there’s no sorting going on. Instead, there’s a steady procession of folks making their way toward the truck. A few are bearing envelopes, maybe a package or two—but none of these need to be shipped out. (Good thing, because they’d never make it anywhere in time for Christmas.)
But everyone is bearing good wishes. They are being delivered directly to the intended recipient: UPS driver Tom Rojel.
Tom—as he’s known to just about everybody in town (except those who call him Tomas because that’s the name on the side of his truck)—has been delivering packages in these parts for 22 years, and it is his last day before retirement.
He’s got a few final deliveries to make—the last one out in Greaterville—but it’s a bit of a role reversal on this day. The townspeople are the ones doing the driving, heading into the crossroads for one last chance to thank Tom for his service and wish him well in his retirement.
“He’s the best,” said Michele Cardillo, who stopped by with her husband Richard. “I think that Tom, over the 20 years that we have lived here, is undoubtedly the most customer-service-oriented human being that I have ever encountered. Absolutely I’m going to miss him.”
The feeling is mutual.
“If it wasn’t for the hours and how my body feels, I’d stay here for another 15 years,” Rojel said. “I love the customers, the place, I love my work. And that’s the most important part.”
Rojel got his start with UPS in 1993, working a route in downtown Nogales. It was a hectic pace, though not quite like the “horror stories” he heard from “the guys in Tucson and Phoenix.” He was assigned the eastern Santa Cruz County route in 2003. “It went from 100 to zero,” Rojel said. “Nice easy pace.”
The route originally included Patagonia Lake, Patagonia, Washington Camp, the San Rafael Valley, Sonoita, Elgin and Canelo. Rojel lives in Tucson, so five days a week, he would drive to Nogales, pick up his load, hit all the stops, return the truck to Nogales, then drive back to Tucson. It’s since been centralized around the Sonoita area, but counting his commute from Tucson, it still meant leaving home at about 8:30 in the morning and returning about 8:30 or 9 at night.
“I average 190 to 230 (miles) a day, five days a week, plus going back and forth to Tucson,” he said. Rojel had no estimate for the total miles he’s driven over the years, but suffice to say he’s eaten a lot of dust. “I’d like to see my autopsy when they cut me open,” he joked.
Whether dirt or paved, Rojel knows all the roads (and often-wonky addresses) like the back of his hand, and he’s also come to know so many of the folks who call those roads home.
“When I moved down, he was my first driver,” said Cami Schlappy, a 20-year resident. “He’s seen all my life changes over those 20 years, he’s delivered everything. Home-warming gifts, wedding gifts, baby-shower gifts, diapers, birthday pinatas, back-to-school items. He’d bring treats when we had a dog. He’s seen my daughter go from toddler to pre-teen.
“He’s just a really genuine guy, not somebody just dropping off packages. He makes eye contact, remembers names, always has a smile.”
Which is not to say “dropping off packages” is taken for granted in a rural community that is much more dependent on deliveries than places with easier access to in-person shopping.
“I think he understands the importance of people’s packages,” said Lacy Beyer, manager of the Santa Cruz County Fair and Rodeo Association. “It’s not just a box to some people, it’s medicine.”
And it’s that connection with and understanding of the community that explains the fuss being made over a delivery man’s retirement.
“A lot of times the things we need, like buckles or awards, especially around fair and rodeo, are coming in right at the last minute,” Beyer said. “If there is something that we know is going to be cutting it close we can let him know and he does his very best to make sure we get it.”
And then there’s the personal touch. Beyer explained that if her mother happened to be volunteering at the fairgrounds on a day when Rojel had a delivery scheduled for her house, “he will literally put it in the backseat of her car. And if he knows she has a neighbor anywhere close, my Mom picks that up from him too. So it’s not like he’s a UPS driver. He’s everyone’s personal assistant.”
Kelly Bostock of Dos Cabezas WineWorks said Rojel convinced the winery to use UPS for its wine club shipments early on. “I’m not sure if he regrets that decision since he has to pick up hundreds of boxes four times a year,” she said.
“Before we started serving food, our dogs were at the winery every day. They would hear his truck coming and sit patiently to wait for Tom to give them a treat. There was a time (the dog) missed him and had to chase him to the Sonoita Inn for her milk bone.
“We will miss Tom. His service has been above and beyond.”
Rojel’s post-driving to-do list includes some good cigars, good whiskey, projects around the house and a little sport. “I call it a dual-sport,” he said. “Golfing and hunting. Hunting for my golf ball.”
Word of his impending retirement was well-known throughout the community, and his final days of deliveries evolved into something of a traveling going-away party – be it at the post office parking lot, places of business or residences.
“Everybody’s been very generous,” Rojel said on Christmas Eve. “Lots of cards, gifts. It’s very touching. I’ve been very blessed.”