Harold Wayne Long
April 8, 1939 - February 8, 2021
Lexington, Kentucky - Harold Wayne Long, beloved father and husband, peacefully passed away at the age of 81 on February 8th, 2021 at the Bluegrass Hospice Care Center in Lexington, Kentucky. He was born on April 8th, 1939 in Lexington to Ernest and Virginia (Snapp) Long. Harold had recently recovered from Covid-19 but remained very weak thereafter and is believed to have passed away of natural causes.
Harold grew up in Lexington where he graduated from LaFayette High School in 1957. He greatly enjoyed playing the French horn in the LaFayette Marching Band. After high school, he worked various jobs before he joined the US Army and was trained as a military policeman. Although he served in no wars, he served as a Kentucky National Guardsman achieving the rank of Sergeant.
After completing active-duty military police training, he worked as a city bus driver for the city of Lexington. After a few years as a bus driver, he joined the Kentucky State Police and served for two years as a Highway Patrolman. He left the Highway Patrol for a new career with the US Postal Service as a letter carrier. He would stay with the USPS for 26 years (retiring in 1999) during which time he walked in excess of 60,000 miles delivering mail to many of the residents and businesses of Lexington. He had an uncanny, encyclopedic memory of the streets of Lexington and of many of its residents' addresses. Although he was often teased by fellow letter carriers, he always whistled as he worked and as he walked. He whistled wherever he was or wherever he was going--throughout his life. After retiring from the Postal Service, Harold delivered expedited military parts for Raytheon Corporation but eventually returned to Lextran and finished his working years as a city bus driver in Lexington in 2011.
Through most of his 55 years of work, he delivered letters, packages or people and he loved doing so—always whistling as he walked or drove and always sharing a smile and a kind word to all who crossed his path. He loved his family, dearly. He also loved Kentucky basketball, flying in private Cessna aircraft and his hometown of Lexington. He deeply cared for small children and loved big band music and southern biscuits—no biscuit was safe around Harold. He saw life differently from almost everyone else. Although this didn't always make his life easier, it made him highly unique and very memorable to all who have known him.
Harold married Patricia Ann (Gayheart) in 1961 in Lexington, Kentucky. They were happily married for 60 years. He was preceded in death by his father, Ernest; his mother, Virginia; and his sisters Marlene (Thompson) and Mona (Haggard).
Harold is survived by his spouse Patricia of Wilmore, Kentucky; his sons Jeffrey of Phoenix, Arizona and Greggory of Lexington, Kentucky; his daughter Susan (Danny Hickey) of Lexington, Kentucky; his sisters Louise (Daley) and Linda (Harpe) both of Lexington, Kentucky; and by his seven grandchildren: Clay and Morgan Long (Greggory), Christopher, Benjamin and Savannah Hickey (Susan) and Ryan and Olivia Long (Jeffrey).
A private memorial service will be held by his family once a family member is released from an extended hospital stay. It was Harold's wish to be cremated. He passed believing in the word of the Lord and his family is content knowing that he departed as a Christian and will know those comforts for all eternity.