COTTONWOOD HEIGHTS, Utah (ABC4) — Cottonwood Heights residents met together tonight to celebrate the retirement of a mail carrier who served them for nearly four decades.

“I think Scott is just the kind of person we all ought to be. He has done more for other people than most people ever think about,” local resident Spencer Cottam said. “I’m really proud to be his friend.”

Scott Vernon retired after nearly four decades of work. Every day he reportedly brought the mail, a smile, and a joke to residents.

Cottom reflected on Vernon’s service fondly. “Every day we were here, [Vernon] would get out of his truck, he’d walk up and he’d say hi to you, and he’d give you your mail in person and he’d tell you a joke.”

Vernon said he has been telling jokes for 35 years. “On these different days, you know, I’ll do a joke that pertains to the season, whatever it is, you know if it’s a Santa’s reindeer joke, Halloween joke, or you know, whatever.” He said he’s even received joke books from residents, who said they knew Vernon would appreciate them.

Residents also said talking to Scott was therapeutic. “He’s always smiling, and as you find out more about his personal life, he’s had a lot of hard things in his life, but he always cheers everybody up,” Mary Cottam, a local resident, said.

Vernon said it was his goal to lift people up.

“Well you know I found just as I did that it did make people happy. In fact, many people would come to me and say, ‘I appreciated that joke that you said today. It really uplifted me.’ You know, ‘I was feeling down and the joke uplifted me,'” Vernon said.

Vernon’s wife, Shauna said every day it’s the same. “He has fun, and he wakes up happy, and I wake up happy,” she told ABC4.

Vernon said part of the reason he has such a good relationship with those he delivers mail to is because he delivers it by name.

“I deliver by name, which not a lot of carriers do. So I know everybody’s name on my route,” Vernon said. When he’s not delivering mail he will say hi to people he knows, and usually they will realize he’s the mailman and say hi back.

His retirement was celebrated with a large party in a Cottonwood Heights neighborhood on Aug. 24, around 6:30 p.m. There was live music, and food to celebrate him.