Former Sam Houston Postmaster
Returns to Old Stomping Grounds

Rowe Creager

Creager, who managed the campus post office from 1974-79, has returned to his old stomping grounds as a full-time post office employee. Times have certainly changed, Creager said, but the work hasn't.

"The work is basically the same," Creager said. "It's always been busy."

Creager is definitely no stranger to Huntsville and Sam Houston State University. He has lived in Huntsville his entire life and his father, W. Truett, was dean of students and a professor of education in the 50's before passing away in 1963.

Creager received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Sam Houston State in 1973 and went back to school to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree in Education and Industrial Technology in 1979. From there, he went on to a career in education, spending time teaching in the Huntsville prison system as well as several local schools.

He recently decided he wanted a change of pace. The post office sounded like a good place to turn.

" I like the work and the people here and I was tired of driving back and forth," Creager said. "Plus it has other benefits for my wife and me. I enjoy it."

Though the work is basically the same, the atmosphere is certainly not. His eyes have seen almost every change the university has had the past 50 years. In his first stint at Sam Houston State, the post office was located in the basement of the former women's gymnasium, now the site of the Dan Rather Communications Building.

When Creager was a youngster, his family lived in a house on Avenue I, land currently owned and operated by Sam Houston State. His father owned an acre of land and used the space to garden and raise chickens. Creager remembers his father and Ferol Robinson, former vice president for university affairs, also kept a cow they jointly owned.

"Dad milked the cow in the morning and Ferol came and did it in the afternoon," Creager remembers with a laugh.

The university bought the land in 1974 and the Creager chicken house was soon torn down and replaced by Johnson Coliseum, the current home of the Bearkat men's and women's basketball teams.

Several buildings and dorms that used to be an everyday sight to Creager are long gone. A couple of trees here and there remain to remind him where certain things use to be. Fortunately, some things are still the same.

"People think we're not busy now because the students are gone for the summer, but we're very busy forwarding their mail," he said. "It's nice to be back."

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SHSU Media Contact: Brandon Autrey
May 15, 2002
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