RED LODGE — On Wednesday, Arnetta Brownlow, a contract driver for the United States Postal Service in Red Lodge, will retire after 42 years on the job.

“I just work; trying to get through the day. (There is) a lot of mail today; it’s Monday,” Arnetta said, the week of his retirement.

As a janitorial staffer, route substitute and driver over those four decades, those who worked with her, like Audrey Bonogosky, describe Arnetta as “all things to the Postal Service.”

“I am his biggest fan. I love her to bits,” said Bonogosky, who worked with Arnetta for 12 years.

Several friends and family members gathered Monday to celebrate Arnetta’s accomplishment, each of whom had known her for at least 20 years, and said they had gathered to provide feedback to MTN because Arnetta had shown up to do her job for the Red Lodge community, every day, for decades.

“The only time (Arnetta) took off was when she had appendicitis, but she still showed up for work and they made her go to the hospital,” Bobbie Woolridge said , one of Arnetta’s five daughters.

To support her family, Arnetta worked up to five jobs at a time; most often, they hold three jobs at the same time.

“Watching (my mother) work three jobs my whole life, I always thought it was a woman’s job to do that,” said Robyn Brownlow, another of Arnetta’s daughters who works alongside her at the post office as a flexible part-time employee. (PTF) employee.

Arnetta’s husband, who died in January, also worked at the USPS office with his wife and daughter.

“It gives me something to get up in the morning. That’s for sure,” said Arnetta, who took over her late husband’s journey when he passed away.

Friends and family said she embodied the adage often associated with the USPS: its informal motto but is attributed to a Greek historian’s account of the Persian Wars.

“We should all live like Arnetta. We should work like she did, we should parent like she did, we should love like she did,” said Samantha Thomas, who has known Arnetta for 37 years.

Arnetta will continue her journey at Belfry for at least two more years and said she thinks having at least one job in retirement is a good thing for her at 72 years old.