Prosper, TX, Postmaster Jim Spradley will soon receive a rare honor: The community is naming a school after him.
Jim Spradley Elementary School will open next August.
“Having a school named after one’s family name is one of the most honorable and prestigious things that a person could have bestowed upon him,” he said.
Education is particularly important to Spradley, who was born in Prosper, a hamlet within the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area where everyone knows each other.
Spradley graduated from Prosper High School and later North Texas State University with a degree in education.
Since becoming Postmaster in 1978, Spradley has helped Prosper live up to its name.
In addition to serving on the school district’s board of trustees for 15 years, Spradley is a co-founder of the Prosper Chamber of Commerce.
“We have grown from the small, quiet town [of 350 people] to a city of 20,000, and we continue to grow,” he said.
Always the educator, Spradley takes a keen interest in training other Postmasters, sharing his years of postal experience and learning from co-workers.
“The learning process never ends. It continues all through one’s life,” he said.