He led Rockford mail carriers through the darkest of days. Then he got a termination letter

When Rockford letter carrier Jay Larson was stabbed to death on the job earlier this year, grief-stricken U.S. Postal Service employees leaned on each other and their leader, Lawrence Steward.

As a friend of Larson's and as president of the National Association of Letter Carriers Local 245, Steward helped organize a vigil and a balloon release to honor the victims of the March 27 mass stabbing and a mail truck procession on Larson's route to memorialize the 49-year-old longtime postal worker.

A few months later, Steward would get a notice from his boss. He was being fired.

"It was such a sad, traumatic event for everyone," said Michael Caref, National Business Agent for NALC Region 3 in a video posted on YouTube . "My man here did a good job. He had to deal with the media, had to deal with postal management, the grief that our brothers and sisters were going through.”

A letter carrier for 25 years, Larson was one of four Rockford residents who were killed and seven wounded during a spree of violence . Christian I. Soto , 22, of Rockford, has pleaded not guilty to four counts of first-degree murder, seven counts of attempted first-degree murder and two counts of home invasion.

Although Steward said Rockford area post office leaders had asked him to help manage the situation in the wake of Larson's killing, the letter charged him with speaking with media without permission and providing photos of Larson.

It also claimed that the procession Steward helped organize was never approved by management.

In comments to the Rockford Register Star, Steward described Larson as an exemplary letter carrier. Larson was "the best of us," Steward said.

A spokesperson for the Postal Service declined to comment or make the Rockford area post master available for an interview saying "the Postal Service does not publicly discuss internal administrative actions related to its employees or managers."

Steward, who has been a letter carrier since 2013 and was elected union president in December 2022, said during a phone interview that Rockford managers may not have liked "that I was getting applause or recognition for doing my job well in a difficult time."

Caref said he immediately objected to Steward's notice of removal, which was issued June 28.

"Just last week they issued a notice of removal," Caref said in the video. "I called up some of the people in management in the Postal Service and let them know if you want to have a fight, you are going to get a fight. Or you can just rescind this thing immediately."

The notice has since been rescinded, Caref said, and Steward's job is safe.

Jeff Kolkey writes about government, economic development and other issues for the Rockford Register Star. He can be reached at  (815) 987-1374, via email at jkolkey@rrstar.com and on X @jeffkolkey .

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: He led Rockford mail carriers through the darkest of days. Then he got a termination letter