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After 47 years, UPS driver Jim Bezely says goodbye to Streator · Illinois Valley - Shaw Local

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  Speaker 1: After forty seven years, UPS driver Jim Besley says goodbye
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  to Streeter. Written by Bill Frescos, this article is being
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  read by an automated voice brought to you by Everlett.
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  For many instreador, the arrival of the Brown UPS truck
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  often meant more than just their package being delivered. It
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  meant seeing a familiar and friendly face. For almost half
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  a century, that face belonged to Spring Valley native Jim Besley.
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  After forty seven years with UPS, including forty five years
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  behind the wheel, Besily is stepping away from a career
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  defined as much by people as it was by the
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  packages he delivered every day. Bezly's path to UPS started
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  suddenly and unexpectedly while attending Illinois Valley Community College. Besley
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  got his start at UPS after a track coach suggested
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  he apply for a job loading trucks. I needed a
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  job at the time, and remember saying sure when he
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  said tomorrow, Besley recalled, it's crazy to think forty seven
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  years later, that's how I got into UPS. While juggling
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  classes and running. He emphasized it was a demanding schedule,
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  but he enjoyed it, and within months of leaving school
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  he was offered a full time driving position and spent
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  the majority of his career in Streeter, first arriving on
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  the route in nineteen eighty one, he steadily grew to
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  love the town, even if it took some tough early
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  lessons navigating its one way streets, and over time those
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  daily stops turn into something far more meaningful. I've seen
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  kids in their diapers, and now their kids are in diapers,
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  he said, I just made a lot of good friends
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  along the way. Known for his friendly, consistent presence, Besley
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  built trust with Streeter's people the old fashioned way by
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  showing up on time every day and just treating people
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  with respect. My mom always said, treat people the way
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  you want to be treated, he said. I like to
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  be treated nicely, so that's what I did. That approach
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  didn't go unnoticed. At many stops, people would have coffee
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  waiting for him, a small but meaningful gesture that became
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  part of his daily routine. We were honored to be
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  one of Jim's last stops on his forty seven year
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  journey at ups Street or High School, said in a
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  statement on Facebook, best of luck and retirement. We'll keep
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  the coffee on for him. Beyond the relationships, Besily also
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  took pride in the work itself, especially his safety record.
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  Over forty five years of driving, he never had an
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  accident and maintained a clean injury record. Based on my
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  time there, that doesn't happen very often, he said, UPS
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  recognizes twenty five years of safe driving, and I went
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  forty five. I'm really proud of that. Over the course
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  of his career, those years added up to remarkable numbers,
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  and estimated one point eight million miles driven, roughly one
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  point six million delivery stops, and more than four point
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  one million packages delivered. He also spent sixty years as
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  a union steward, advocating for fellow drivers and mentoring younger
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  employees as they entered the profession. What a special place
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  that we work when someone chooses to spend forty seven
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  years here, said Nathan Rathermaill, business manager for the UPS
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  Peru Center where Besly was based. Jim, as with all
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  service providers, is an important member of the community. PERU
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  will miss him. Now entering retirement, Besley isn't wasting any
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  time slowing down, as he's already checking off long awaited trips,
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  including the Kentucky Derby last week, and a visit to
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  Key West later this year. If I can find a
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  hammock under some palm trees, that's what I want to do,
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  he said with a laugh. Even so, he doesn't expect
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  to stay away from Street or for long. Friends and
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  customers have already invited him back. The biggest thing about
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  this job I'm going to miss is the people of Streeter,
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  Besley said. Some people might say it's a rough town,
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  but every town has that. They're good people, they really are.
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  I'm not delivering anymore, but those relationships don't just go away.
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  I'll be back