Post office named for late postmaster

The U.S. House voted 368-0 on Monday to rename the post office in Smithfield, Cache County, in honor of a man who was postmaster there for 29 years.

Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, introduced the bill to rename it the W. Hazen Hillyard Post Office. The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration.

Hillyard was the Smithfield postmaster from 1934 to 1963 in an era before home delivery was offered there. He oversaw enlarging operations and beginning home delivery, and obtaining a new Post Office building in 1957.

Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., chairman of a subcommittee that oversees the Postal Service, said Hillyard was "dedicated to serving the Smithfield community."

He noted that he twice served on the City Council, from 1930-1933 and from 1964-1968, He was chairman of the City Library Board, president of the local Kiwanis Club, and chairman of the Smithfield Historical Heritage Society.

He was also vice chairman of the Cache Valley Council of the Boy Scouts of America for many years. He died in 1992 at the age of 99.