Greater SC Postal District Finance Manager, Millard Bessenger, retires after 53 years service

Bamberg native returns home for retirement, family life

On Friday, October 3, employees at the Columbia Processing and Distribution Center of the U. S. Postal Service gathered to wish a happy retirement for District Finance Manager, Millard Bessenger, whose career in government service spanned 53 years.

District Manager, Nicholas L. Rinaldi, presented Bessenger with a certificate of retirement and wished him continued health and success as he enters into the next phase of life.

Bessenger, who began his Postal career in Columbia as a temporary indefinite clerk in 1959 after a 4-year stint in the U. S. Navy, retires as a Postal Career Executive responsible for overseeing the financial viability for the Greater South Carolina District, one of the nation’s 80 Postal districts.  The district delivers the mail for 35 of South Carolina’s 46 counties, ZIP Codes 290-6 and has 7,280 employees, working at 327 facilities with an annual operating revenue of over $750 million.

Known for his efforts to develop employees and lend his skills when needed, Bessenger has received several lifetime achievement awards, including the first ever Chief Financial Officer’s National Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001.

“The Postal Service has been very good to me and my family over the years,” said Bessenger, “and I’ve been proud to be a part of the dependable service we provide our state as long as I have.  Now I’m glad to be able to return home to Bamberg, and I’m looking forward to being more involved in community and family life.