Post office renamed for longtime postmaster

Romuald “Bud” Brzezinski was honored during the 1998 Wisconsin Sesquicentennial as the longest-serving postmaster in the Badger State.

He retired the next year after 40 years in charge of the U.S. Post Office in Krakow, having spent a total of 46 years working for the U.S. Postal Service.

These facts were recounted Aug. 8 as the post office building in Krakow was officially dedicated as the Romuald “Bud” Brzezinski Post Office in his memory.

U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher introduced the bill two years ago and shepherded the measure through Congress after being approached by Brzezinski’s nephew Michael Poradek, director of administration for St. Norbert Abbey in De Pere.

A lifelong resident of Krakow, Brzezinski set a legacy of service to the community, Poradek said.

“He loved the people in the community. He loved learning about the people, talking to them, being able to work with them at the post office, and being involved in so many civic organizations, being a poll worker locally, which he took so seriously, and all the different ways that he contributed to the life of this Krakow community and beyond,” Poradek said. “So it’s a great privilege to all of us in the family to be able to recognize him and for this community to recognize him in this way.”

Poradek said “faith, family and the Green Bay Packers” were his uncle’s greatest passions. Gallagher noted that Brzezinski held Packers season tickets for 50 years, attended the famous Ice Bowl game and missed only three Packers games during one 40-year stretch. He started going to games with his father in the 1930s and saw all of the legendary team leaders play, from Curly Lambeau to Aaron Rodgers.

“But the true legend of Bud may be in the way he served his family and his community,” Gallagher said. “Bud was one of three original commissioners of the local sanitary district, where he started as secretary and later became treasurer. He was a member of the Pulaski Knights of Columbus and an active member of St. Casimir Parish. He was secretary of not one but two bowling leagues, and he bowled for three different teams in a Wednesday night league, all this in addition to being secretary of the sportsmen club for 15 years. Bud lived an absolutely incredible life.”

It literally takes an act of Congress to rename a post office. The honoree must be a person of significant stature from within the community, and a member of the individual’s family must make a formal request to a member of Congress, Gallagher said.

Even then, the process that began with Poradek’s inquiry to Gallagher took two years to get through the House and Senate.

“Even simple, common-sense bills and measures like this can sometimes take a little while to nudge across the finish line,” the congressman said. “At times it felt like it may take as many years to pass this as Bud served for the Postal Service, but finally at the end of last Congress, we were able to get it across the finish line and pay tribute to Bud’s life.”

Jeff Drake, USPS district manager for Wisconsin, said naming the post office after Brzezinski was particularly fitting.

“A true public servant, Bud became postmaster in 1958 after working for six years as a substitute rural carrier and clerk here in Krakow,” Drake said. “Only those individuals held in high esteem are considered for this honor. Bud is one of those individuals. By dedicating this building, we pay tribute to Bud and all the public servants who make significant contributions to our country and our communities.”

wbluhm@newmedia-wi.com