For just over 32 years, customers coming into the Turlock post office have found a grinning Lois Mattox at the counter ready to help. But as of Friday, Mattox is no longer donning her light blue top and navy slacks because after more than three decades on the job, she is ready to retire.

“My co-workers and the customers I’ve met over the years are the best and I am going to miss them,” Mattox said.

For the majority of her career with the postal service, Mattox has been stationed at the Turlock post office and is known for her quick laugh and cheerful attitude at the front counter, said supervisor Susan Sego.

“Our customers just love her,” Sego said. “So many people in Turlock are going to miss seeing her when they come in.”

Mattox got her start with the postal service after her mother, a postal clerk herself, encouraged her to apply when openings were posted. She started as a window clerk at the Turlock office and did a short stint as a carrier in Patterson and Newman before returning back to Turlock as a window clerk.

“I like the friendliness of the job and being able to talk to so many different people, because I’m a talker,” Mattox said.

Mattox will soon be putting the post office in her rear view mirror quite literally as she and her husband embark on some travel in their motor home.

“I love to travel, so we will just see where the road takes us,” Mattox said.