Coldspring post office to be renamed Friday for slain rural carrier

The Coldspring post office will be renamed Friday in honor of slain postal carrier Eddie “Marie” Youngblood, who was shot and killed on May 17, 2013, while delivering mail on her rural route in Coldspring.

The renaming ceremony will take place at 9 a.m. Friday on the grounds of the post office, 14231 State Highway 150 W. The public is invited to attend.

The bill to rename the post office for Youngblood was written and sponsored by U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady (TX-08) and supported by the Texas delegation.

In a statement on the U.S. House floor on Sept. 20, 2016, Brady explained why he felt renaming the post office for Youngblood was a fitting tribute.

“Marie was so well-known on her route that her customers often stopped her just to chat as she made her deliveries. Tragically it was on this route she loved and where she was loved that her life was cut short. On May 17, 2013, this beloved daughter, mother and grandmother was killed in a senseless act of violence while she was simply doing her job,” Brady said. “Justice has not yet been served but it’s important that Marie’s life, not her death, define her legacy. While Marie may be gone, her legacy lives on in the lives she touched. Both of Marie’s sons work for the postal service and her loving husband, George, who visits her grave each and every day to keep the flowers fresh and gravesite pristine.”

The post office renaming comes just two months before the man accused of her murder, James Wayne Ham, is scheduled to stand trial. Jury selection and trial is set to begin at 9 a.m., May 16, before U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes. Because of the nature of the case, the federal government is seeking the death penalty.

The motive for the Youngblood’s murder is unclear. However, an affidavit released by the U.S. Attorneys Office in Houstonfollowing the murder suggests Ham was angry with Youngblood because he felt she was withholding his mail and rerouting it to his estranged wife, who was also a mail carrier.

Youngblood’s son, George Youngblood Jr., says he wants Friday’s event to be more about paying tribute to his mother and not about how she died.

“I know that everyone from the National Rural Letter Carriers Association and Congressman Brady’s office have worked really hard on getting the renaming approved. It’s an honor that my mom’s name will be honored this way and she will be remembered. I don’t want that day to be about the events that led to the renaming. I just want it to be positive,” he said.

Source: Coldspring post office to be renamed Friday for slain postal worker – Houston Chronicle