There were many special deliveries for Linda Graham on Tuesday, all of them well wishes for a community leader who has operated the Evergreen Post Office for the past 20 years.

One woman talked to Graham through her empty post-office box as Graham stood on the other side delivering the day's mail.

"Good luck. Keep me posted on how things go," the woman told the longtime post-office operator.

Other blessings and words of encouragement slid across the counter along with the envelopes and packages.

"We'll miss you."

"Take care."

"We'll be thinking about you."

Graham, 63, recently was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer and faces radiation and rounds of chemotherapy in the coming weeks as she battles the disease.

To keep the postal contract going for Evergreen and not have it folded into the downtown Kalispell Flathead Station, she was forced to quickly find someone to take the reins of that contract.

She turned to longtime friend Pam Holmquist for help. Graham was the treasurer for both of Holmquist's campaigns for county commissioner (Holmquist won her bid in 2010), and both women have been Evergreen business leaders for years.

As it turned out, Holmquist's son, Travis, was ready and able to step into Graham's shoes. He studied small business management at Flathead Valley Community College and has spent the past six and a half years at TeleTech, where he was most recently a manager in charge of 300 employees.

Holmquist also bought Graham's second business, The Shipping Station, which handles UPS packages and offers packaging services and amenities such as greeting cards. Through a process called novation, she said, the post-office contract was able to go with the shipping business.

"It was the right time to move to something different," Holmquist said.

Tuesday — an unusually busy day following the President's Day holiday - was the changing of the guard at the Evergreen Post Office as Holmquist, 31, worked the counter for the first time. Graham spent most of her time behind the scene, answering any questions and helping sort mail.

Holmquist didn't miss a beat as the line of customers stretched across the room.

"My focus will be top-notch customer service," he said. "It's the only thing that will separate us from other shipping stations. I want it to be friendly, warm, upbeat, positive."

That's exactly what Graham had hoped for as she reluctantly prepared to turn over what is truly the community hub of Evergreen.

"This is something I love. I've put my heart and soul into this," she said. "I think the community will be supportive and understand that it's a new day here."

Evergreen has 616 post-office boxes and she knows nearly all of those boxholders.

Graham barely has had time to emotionally process the diagnosis made on Jan. 14.

She went to a medical clinic close to two years ago and was told she had hemorrhoids. When the bleeding didn't subside, she sought a remedy at a local health-food store.

"For a year and a half I dinked around with that," she said.

An urgent-care physician last month delivered the shocking news.

"Your life has gone upside down," she remembers him telling her.

Since then Graham has gone through a battery of tests, including three CT scans, and had surgery that left her with a colostomy bag. Later this week she begins the radiation regimen, then chemotherapy.

The symptoms of her cancer have been rather elusive. She hasn't had any pain, though she's been more tired than normal. And she's lost some weight.

Graham doesn't have health insurance, but for now her finances have taken a back seat to survival.

Graham has spent her entire life in the Evergreen area. She was raised on a farm in the Helena Flats area and attended Evergreen Junior High School.

Twenty years ago when she was managing the Avis car rental outlet at Glacier Park International Airport, she stopped by the Evergreen Post Office and noticed a sign saying the contract was up for bid. She waded through the thick packet of paperwork, got the contract and never looked back.

"I like people, so it was a good job," she said. "I wanted it to be an old-time friendly post office."

The continuous flow of added federal regulations stepped up the busy pace, but Graham still found the time to visit with customers. Her cocker spaniel, Winston, has been a fixture at the post office for the last four years, and customers happily doled out doggie treats, especially at Christmas.

About a half-dozen Evergreen business leaders - Graham included - started the Evergreen Business and Property Owners Association in the mid-1990s to preserve their community amid annexation proposals by the city of Kalispell.

"We were a forum for people to bring their concerns," she said.

Though the association these days is inactive, it has supported a number of Evergreen projects through the years, including the bike path between East Evergreen Elementary School and Evergreen Junior High.

With three children, eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren, Graham will have lots of family support as she goes through cancer treatment. One of her granddaughters, Carissa Williams, who had a baby on Monday, will continue to work part time at the post office.

Holmquist will hire his own employees to run the business.

On his first morning at his new job, he already was seeing familiar faces and recognizing names of friends and acquaintances. A few family members popped in, too.

"I have lots of family, and we've all been in the valley forever," he said.

How to help

Graham's family has set up a trust fund in her name through Glacier Bank. Anyone wanting to make a donation to help defray the costs of her cancer treatment can do so at any Glacier Bank branch. Checks should be made out to Linda Graham Trust.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.