Everyone's life has a story. In "Lives," we tell some of those stories about North Shore people who have died recently. "Lives" runs Mondays in The Salem News.
BEVERLY — On Oct. 2, 1974, Kevin Trefry was sitting in science class at Memorial Junior High School when he was told someone was there to see him. It was his father, John "Jack" Trefry.
He had come to take Kevin out of school for the day.
Jack had promised to take his son to a Red Sox game, so he left work early to take Kevin to the last game of the regular season. His father didn't care much for baseball — he once he described it as "a bunch of grown men dressed in pajamas" — but he cared a lot about keeping his promise and very deeply about his family. So, as usual, he followed through.
Jack Trefry, of Prides Crossing in Beverly, died July 12 from congestive heart failure at the age of 83.
There was hardly a time in his life when Trefry wasn't working. At the age of 5, he sold candy door to door, inaugurating what would be a lengthy working career.
After graduating from Beverly High, he served in the Navy during World War II. But while he wanted to serve, he also possessed a peaceful nature.
"He didn't want to kill anyone," said his oldest son, John Trefry Jr. When it was time for his marksmanship test, he aimed at the wrong target and failed the test. That steered him away from the battlefield and toward his position as a clerk in the armed forces.
Where Trefry established himself, however, was as a letter carrier in Beverly. He enjoyed the job, the people and his co-workers throughout his 29-year tenure.
Trefry worked as a "floater," which means that he worked a different route each day. (Mail is delivered six days a week, so in a group of five routes, a substitute is needed to cover for each day the regular carrier doesn't work.) Jack liked the revolving shift because it prevented boredom and allowed him to see more of the city, according to his son John.
Trefry was so dedicated to the post office that he built one himself — the Prides Crossing Post Office — in 1964.
He owned a garage on the site. "Someone asked if he would knock down the garage and build a post office," John said. He did, funding construction by taking out a mortgage against his house.
In his early years with the postal service, Jack started the trend of letter carriers wearing Bermuda shorts in hot weather instead of long pants.
"At first, everyone thought it was silly, and then they realized it looked rather comfortable," John said. "They took a picture of him and put it in the paper." His wardrobe idea spread after the picture's publication.
Trefry made sure to carry out his postal duties diligently and professionally, according to his colleague Richie Donlon. When Donlon started with the post office in the early 1980s, he asked Jack for advice.
"He said, 'We are the U.S. Postal Service; our last name is service. The most important thing we can do is provide good service to our customers,'" Donlon said.
Meeting so many people was what Trefry really liked about his job.
"He found it very, very easy to make friends with people," John said. "He looked for the good in people."
His sense of duty and hard work were constants throughout his life. For a major portion of his career as a letter carrier, his pay was low, and periodically he worked a second job as a janitor. Financial difficulties never stopped him from providing his church, Beverly Church of the Nazarene, with a 10 percent tithe.
"He believed that's what you should do, and that's what he did," John said. "He believed very strongly in the church."
He was a Republican but also a strong union supporter. But, Donlon said, he was the kind of guy who would listen at a union meeting and then speak as a voice of reason.
"Jack was just much more low-key," he said.
Eventually, Trefry's legs became a problem, and he retired from the post office. He still wanted to work and took a job as a security guard at the Peabody Essex Museum, where he worked for 20 years, until just before his death.
"He knew he couldn't do a lot of physical labor because he was getting older," John said. "Originally, he didn't like the idea, he thought it would be boring."
Then he got to know the people, the visitors and the job. After that, he warmed to his new position.
When John was asked how he was doing after the loss of his father, he said, "I'm doing OK. I'm a Trefry."
Jack Trefry is survived by his five children and many grandchildren.
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