Open house planned for retiring Postmaster

Barb Prottsman has been Postmaster at the Imperial Post Office since May 3, 2014, and is reitiring this week. Her last day is Thursday.
There will be an open house that day from 2 to 4 p.m. in her honor.
Prottsman is originally from Ogallala and has been employed by the U.S. Postal Service 34 years.
“I started my career with the postal service walking the streets delivering mail, doing everything in between all hours of the day and night, eventually working my way up to Postmaster,” she said.
She has enjoyed living here and appreciated how welcoming the community was when she and her husband, Marlon, moved here to Imperial.
Prottsman has been active in the community, and she and her husband enjoyed entering the annual Chamber Chili Cook-off.
Marlon passed away in October 2020, but she has continued to be involved in the community.
Moving forward, Prottsman is making plans to follow through with traveling—something she and her husband liked to do.
“We have traveled the U.S. extensively, and Marlon often traveled abroad before we were married, including a year in Swaziland in the Peace Corps,” Prottsman said.
She plans to spend a good portion of her retirement traveling internationally to see some of the places her husband visited, and more.
She plans to make her first trip traveling Europe, to England, Scotland, Italy—especially Rome, and she would like to be in Croatia for her birthday.
“I’ve always wanted to travel internationally. In 2008, I went to China, which is when I got the travel bug. Marlon and I were going to do some traveling but he wanted to wait until I retired. Even though it’s just me now, I’m going to follow the plan,” she said.
She said she really enjoys learning about other cultures and viewing their architecture.
She also said she enjoys trying different foods,.
“I love to eat,” she said.
“I’m pretty nervous but very excited to start traveling,” she added.
Apart from traveling, Prottsman plans to spend more time with her two sons’ families and be more of a part of her grandchildren’s lives who all live in Nebraska.
“My mom was always involved with the kids and grandkids, and I want to do that, too. It was special,” she said.
Prottsman wants to devote more time to volunteering and maybe go on some mission trips.
“I have volunteered for Habitat for Humanity in the past, and I want to do more. I’ve been searching for different ways to volunteer,” she continued.
“I’m really going to miss seeing everyone at the post office,” Prottsman said through tears,
“But I’m excited to move on to something new, too.”