December 31, 2009
CLOSING OUT POST OFFICE BOX 398, GRAND JUNCTION, COLORADO 81502
Today, December 31, 2009 I closed out Post Office Box 398, Grand Junction, Colorado 81502. This was an important milestone in my life and the life of many other attorneys who used that post office box when they practiced law in Grand Junction.
I had this task posted in my calendar for today but my mind was occupied by other events. Kenny, Jo and their children left for California by nine in the morning and Kim, Connie and Carol left at the same time to return to Denver. I spoke at the LaRue Olson funeral who was one the church pioneers in Western Colorado. I couldn’t get Jim Golden’s key because he was in the hospital with gall bladder troubles so I took my key and Joan’s key to the post office. That is when my mind started to concentrate on just what I was doing and how significant this closure was to me.
On December 31, 2007, the law firm of Golden, Mumby, Summers, Livingston and Kane consisting of Jim Golden, Keith Mumby, Rich Livingston, Bill Kane, Alan Hassler and myself was dissolved. Our lease was up at the Wells Fargo Bank fourth floor where we had resided since May 1, 1979-28 years. Jim Golden was about 76 and had been seriously hurt- receiving a brain concussion while riding his bike in the east tunnel on the Colorado National Monument. He set up an office downtown in a building he owned and did some legal work under the name of James Golden, LLC with Joan, our former office manager doing some work for him in the evenings. Keith Mumby, about a year younger than Jim, was only working a day or two a week and continued his semi retirement by sharing an office with Rich Livingston near Horizon Drive. I needed to retire because of my Parkinson’s disease and set up an office in my den at home where Teresa, my secretary worked part time until May of 2008 when all my cases were completed and my files closed and stored in the new storage unit constructed next to my home. I kept one phone number we had at the firm’s office, 970-242-0197, which I had published in the telephone book so that clients could find me to get information from my files. Bill Kane joined the Traylor law firm and Alan Hassler opened up his own office on North Avenue.
Everything fell in order when the firm was dissolved. It was agreed that the firm post office box would be maintained until clients became acquainted with whatever address their lawyer was using for mail. I agreed to be the “mailman” and check the box regularly and distribute the mail to each attorney. At first, I checked the box everyday but with the passage of time I was only distributing mail once a week. By the end of 2009, about the only mail coming to the box were flyers, catalogues and solicitations so it was decided when the box rent became due January 1, 2010, not to renew. I already had opened in 2007 a new box for me and my business interests so my mail was coming to that box.
Our firm started in about 1935. Keith Mumby has a card printed in 1938 what shows at that date the firm used P. O. Box 398 so this box has been used by the firm at least since that time. The firm was located on Main Street, and then in the 1950s moved to 200 North 6th Street across from courthouse so there were at least three different locations for the firm but the same post office box during all this time. I joined the firm in 1968 so I was with the same firm almost 40 years.
I took my keys to the window at the post office and told a clerk that I knew I was there to close Box 398 and from his expression and the tone of his voice it was like, “You can’t close this box-the law firm has had this box forever.” This box number was first used in the old post office building on Rood Ave. which now is the Federal Building and the firm continued to use the same numbered box in the “new” post office when it was opened in 1965. The clerk was so astonished at my request he called over another clerk to share this startling news.
Closing the box and then cancelling my business phone number and having any calls to the business line transferred to my home phone until my name disappears from the phone books closes an important chapter in my life and is the final act of my retirement. I feel like the final nail has been nailed in the coffin. No longer will I make trips to the post office on a regular basis to check the firm mail. No longer will I visit other offices to distribute mail. I particularly will miss my visits with Joan, Rich and Keith at their office near the airport and get a nibble of dark chocolate from the bar Joan keeps in the frig for me. I do not miss the pressure of practicing law but I do miss my partners, staff and clients.
I have been blessed most abundantly by the Lord, my partners and staff. My partners have all been very honest, honorable and outstanding men. They have all been good lawyers. They have been my friends. I have had dedicated and loyal secretaries, receptionists and bookkeepers. The practice of law has been very good to me and allowed me to support my family and work in the church. I remember that night in the summer of 1963 at our Beaver Creek cow camp cabin when I discussed with my dad what occupation I should pursue and decided to become a lawyer. I think how fortunate I was to obtain admission to the University of California at Berkeley, meet Clarissa and get a great legal education. I think how blessed I was to find employment with Golden and Mumby the first trip to Grand Junction, our first choice of where to live. Many doors opened for me in the legal profession here. I particularly am grateful I could use my legal talents to acquire church properties, especially Ragged Mountain. I have had a chance to serve in the Kingdom Of God in Western Colorado and believe God brought me here to do His work. I believe God has been in control in my life and I will be eternally indebted to Him for my blessings. Every blessing, privilege and opportunity I have had is because of Him.
K. K. SUMMERS
