Three new postmasters chosen to serve Kaua’i post offices

Three communities in Kauaʻi now have new postmasters to guide their development.

Travis Pement (Kīlauea), David Gillespie (Kalaheo) and Keleen Na-o (Anahola) were chosen in July due to their extensive experience and exceptional commitment to serving their communities, according to a news release from the United States Postal Service.

They were inducted in July during ceremonies led by Hawaiʻi District Manager Eileen Veach at their respective offices. 

“Congratulations to our new postmasters,” said John Hyatt, strategic communications specialist with USPS for the Hawai’i and Pacific Islands and Southern California. “We are proud to elevate and introduce these friendly faces to the community.”

The appointments were made around the United States Postal Service’s 250th anniversary on July 26. On Kauaʻi, the first federal post office was established in Nāwiliwili in 1852, according to the Post Office in Paradise.

Trement will be lead the Kīlauea post office, which opened in 1877 on the North Shore.

“I am feeling so blessed to be here, part of the Kīlauea neighborhood, and to be given the opportunity to serve this community,” Pement said.

He began his postal career as a clerk on the mainland in 2018. He then transferred to the post office in Ewa Beach on Oʻahu, where he was a clerk for about three years.

He transferred to the Kīlauea Post Office as a clerk in 2023, and soon was promoted to supervisor. In 2024, he was promoted to Postmaster Relief in Kīlauea and was promoted earlier this year to his current position.

“The community has been so welcoming, showing that ‘Ohana spirit, and I am proud to serve all my neighbors,” Pement said.

Pement oversees 11 employees with five delivery routes and 1,800 PO Boxes that serve the Kīlauea district. He also is responsible for overseeing the U.S. Postal Service located at the Princeville Shopping Center.

“I am hoping to have more delivery boxes outside, so customers can pick up their packages when it’s convenient for them,” Pement said.

Gillespie, who has experience and a strong background in the postal service, was appointed as the new postmaster in Kalaheo, located on the rural west side.

“We appreciate these individuals’ commitment to working in their communities, especially those in rural areas,” Hyatt said.

Gillespie has served as a clerk, a letter carrier, a mail processing clerk, a supervisor and an Officer in Charge in a variety of facilities on the mainland.

On the Garden Isleʻs Eastside, Na-o will lead the Anahola Post Office, which opened in 1856. 

Na-o began her postal career in 2014 as a clerk at the Kapa’a Post Office, where she served for nine years. She transferred to Anahola in 2023.

“My roots started in this town and now I have the privilege to give back to my community,” Na-o said. “The Anahola community, as well as my wonderful clerks, has welcomed me with open arms as we embrace the start of a wonderful new career ahead.”

As the Postal Service celebrates 250 years of delivering mail and packages, it is celebrating the work postmasters and postal workers do in their local communities across the country by releasing stamps that depict the life in a day of a carrier, delivering mail at different points.

“Customers will be able to find the new reissued Benjamin Franklin stamp,” Hyatt said.

Franklin was the first postmaster general in 1775.

“Although none of the stamps are specific to Hawaiʻi, customers can submit a stamp design online,” Hyatt said.

He hopes the community will submit ideas to help create a Hawai’i stamp.

Residents interested in submitting a stamp design can click here. Individuals interested in open Rural Carrier positions in Kīlauea, Lihue, Kapa’a, and Koloa can click here.

Hyatt also said several post offices across the island are also hiring, including Kīlauea. In June, USPS held two hiring events in Līhuʻe to hire more rural carrier associates.