You’ll never meet someone quite as pleasant or as passionate about postal work as West Liberty’s new Postmaster, Heather Short.
“Without the post office, so many people that have a hard time getting around wouldn’t get a lot of the things that they need,” she says with a sense of pride.
“That's what we're here for. It's our job…and I love doing it,” she adds.
Short started in the role on Feb. 26, 2024. She came on board after the retirement of Xann Rodgers-Mather, who had been the community’s postmaster since 2017.
She has worked for the United States Post Office for 11 years, starting as a clerk in 2013 in Cedar Rapids, the town in which she was born.
However, she spent more than 10 of those 11 years working at the Iowa City and Coralville delivery offices. She was the station manager in Coralville before coming to West Liberty.
West Liberty provides Short with a new challenge.
“I've lived in many small towns, so this is not a shocker to me,” she says, “but this is the first small town I’ve worked in with the post office.”
“I loved working in Coralville, but I just wanted a change, a smaller community, a new adventure, and a chance to try something different,” she adds.
While Postmaster Short is Iowan through and through, she’s still getting to know the community. However, she loves the people.
“From day one, everybody was so accepting and nice,” she says. “They all say, ‘Hi, how are you doing? Nice to meet you.’ You know, I thought that was kind of nice.”
Another thing she loves is the post office. Seriously, she talks about the United States Postal Service with the same affinity as someone discussing their favorite show or team.
“There are many different companies, but the post office is everywhere,” she says. “We get to touch every neighborhood and take pride in our work, look at all the people that we can connect.”
“I know it sounds cheesy, but it’s the truth,” she says while laughing.
Currently, Heather Short lives in Iowa City, but she’s looking to move into West Liberty. She has two children, one adult and one minor.
As Postmaster, she’ll do whatever is needed. Most folks working in small towns or small businesses can understand that mentality.
That being said, she says West Liberty already has a great crew of hard workers. They receive, sort, and send out our mail and packages on a daily basis.
Short remembers from a young age being in awe of the mail carriers that came by her home. They got to go from place to place and talk with people.
“Growing up, you always saw the postman, but I always thought it was a job that not anybody could apply for,” says Short. The daily mail left an impression on her.
Perhaps it stood out because she loves customer service.
“I'm a talker, I like to interact with people,” she admits. “Personally, I think you can expand as a person just by learning about other people.”
So, if you get a chance to talk with Short, take the opportunity to do so. She loves to talk with community members. She’s also here to help.
“I’m open,” she says. “If someone has any questions about the post office, needs help with anything, if something is misdelivered, don't hesitate to call because we will fix it,” she says.
“Our whole goal is delivering to America, and you have to do that by doing your job correctly and being willing to fix any mistakes,” she says succinctly.
As mentioned before, Heather Short became West Liberty’s Postmaster after the retirement of Xann Rodgers-Mather, who replaced J. Peter Rehling after he retired in 2017.
Rehling served as postmaster for six years, replacing Deb Sheldon who took on the role back in 2006.