A veteran of the US Postal Service has died after collapsing as Texas’s heat index hit nearly 115 degrees on Tuesday, in keeping with a report.
66-year-old Eugene Gates Jr. passed out in the backyard of a house in Lakewood, Texas while on his mail tour, Fox 4 reported.
Gates, who worked for the USPS for 36 years in Dallas, was rushed to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital and later pronounced dead.
“He has been my postman for over a 12 months. I saw him yesterday,” said Megan Lucas, a resident of Gates Route.
Ring video from Lucas captured the moment Gates delivered the mail to her house before he passed out, and the lady said she at all times tried to supply a USPS employee water or a chilly towel to assist fight off the heat.
![Gates worked with the USPS for nearly 40 years before tragically passing away on Tuesday.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/USPS-1.jpg?w=1024)
“He was just the sweetest man. He really was,” she said departure.
The USPS didn’t confirm whether Gates died from heat-related illnesses, but said he was “deeply saddened by the lack of his life.”
“On behalf of the NALC, I send my deepest sympathies to the family, friends and associates of Brother Gates,” said National Association of Letter Carriers president Brian L. Renfroe.
“Eugene was a dedicated postman with an extended and successful profession in the postal service. He can be greatly missed by everyone, especially his colleagues in the branch and customers.”
![Megan Lucas was the owner of a house on the Gates route and says she just saw a USPS employee the day before he died.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/USPS-3.jpg?w=1024)
The Heat Index value on Gates’ tour made it one in all the most popular afternoons in Dallas this season.
“My husband was attempting to do his job. It was his job… and the heat got to him.” – Gates’ wife, Carla said WFAA. “Nobody should work outside when the heat index is so high. No one. Deliver mail in the end, or wait.
“Am I indignant with the post office? Yes. Am I indignant? Yes. The post office will still be there, but my husband won’t.
![Gates leaves behind his wife Carla (L) and two children. The postal worker was also the grandfather of many children.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/USPS-5.jpg?w=1024)
Prior to Gates’ tragic death, USPS recently modified the time that carriers start delivering mail from 7:30 a.m. to eight:30 a.m.
The carriers’ union met on Wednesday morning after the death of one in all their members, and the union’s chairman said they might move the beginning time for his or her carriers back to 7:30 a.m.
Because the Gates family awaits an official reason behind death, it has revealed that he’s survived by two children, several grandchildren and wife Carla.
“It is so sad that a wife mourns her husband, children and grandchildren. This neighborhood will mourn him,” Lucas said.