THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, December 21, 1995 TAG: 9512200144
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 13 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK ROBERTS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines
William John ``Bill'' Matthews, armed with a degree in biology from Old Dominion University, was ready to spend his life in the woods.
``I was going to be a forest ranger,'' he said.
Now, 46-year-old Matthews spends most of his time indoors, nattily dressed in business suits as he oversees Suffolk's post office.
The 20-year postal veteran, recently sworn in as the city's 30th postmaster, is in charge of a delivery area of 430 square miles serving a population of 63,000.
Christmas, of course, is the busiest season, and this year is expected to be a record-breaker.
``We do a good job,'' Matthews said. ``It gets in my craw - putting down postal service employees. We represent a cross-section of the country, so you're not slamming the postal service, you're slamming society.
``Compare our level of performance to any other country,'' he said. ``We do a better job.''
Matthews' first job was as a Virginia Beach letter carrier. In 1981, he became a delivery supervisor. In 1983, he was station manager in Virginia Beach, and, in 1989, area manager in Norfolk.
``I enjoy what I'm doing,'' he said. ``That's the reason I never pushed for another job.''
Matthews received three purple hearts while serving with the Marines in Vietnam.
His first job with the postal service came during his senior year at ODU.
``I applied to the government for a job as a biologist,'' he said. ``Meantime, I took a postal service test. My score was high. Next thing I knew, I was carrying mail. The job's so good, I never looked back.''
He is looking ahead to working in Suffolk, which he calls ``a wonderful community. I know I'll gain an even greater appreciation of the community as time goes by.''
Matthews spends as much time as possible with his family in Virginia Beach. He met his wife, Sharon, a fourth-grade teacher in Norfolk, while at ODU. They have two children - Jackie, 14, and Billy, 8.
Like their father, both are active in sports. Dad notes, ``Most of my time is consumed watching my children play sports.''
A lot of his time also is spent becoming personally involved in sports, usually as a tri-athlete - running, biking, swimming.
At The Citadel, which Matthews attended for a year before transferring to ODU in 1975, he was a member of the freshman wrestling team.
At Old Dominion, he played on the rugby team and served as director of the Tri-Power Cycling Club. He returned to that school in 1992, to earn a master of science degree.
Matthews' other interests include weightlifting, fishing, reading and ``playing on the computer.''
As far as his job and community relations are concerned, he said, ``I'm looking to get real close to our customers. And, I'm interested in the business community.''
The community is nothing new to the postmaster.
``My grandfather was Moody Holland, whose family was one of the Dutch families that settled in Holland,'' Matthews said. ``I used to visit the family farm there when I was a kid.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MICHAEL KESTNER
Bill Matthews recently was sworn in as Suffolk's 30th postmaster.
by CNB