David Natishak
Maintenance mechanic,
United States Postal Service,
Plattsburgh, N.Y.

After serving his country in the Air Force, seeing active duty in Desert Storm, Dave Natishak began a career at the USPS. He started as a clerk but moved into maintenance as quickly as he could and never looked back.

In his role as maintenance mechanic, Dave regularly repairs pallet jacks, forklifts, hamper dumpers, air compressors, dock levelers and other hydraulic, pneumatic and electrical equipment and fixtures. Dave also performs general building maintenance and repairs all of Plattsburgh’s mail collection boxes. 

He has also been certified as an electronic technician and now maintains and repairs the facility’s computerized inkjet printers and mail sorting machines.

Linda VanBoven, who has been in maintenance for 36 years, is Dave’s maintenance manager.

“Dave does it all,” Linda says. “When a forklift is down, everyone at this facility asks, ‘Where is Dave today?’ When a collection box is in need of repair, the letter carriers ask for Dave. We just finished moving an office and Dave did all the work, painting, repairing tile and moving cat 6 cables.”

He also recently designed and built a glass and wood display case for the specialty items the Postal Service sells to collectors.

Dave also mentors younger employees, which his supervisors find greatly valuable.

“It’s very nice to see the sense of teamwork and knowledge that Dave, through his years in the military and now the postal service, is passing on to our newer employees,” VanBoven says.

“I nominated Dave because whenever someone needs something done, his name comes up. He’s my go-to guy, not just because of his abilities but because he’s so dependable; he’s always there, always willing to step up and do more.”

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