Moon is dead!

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No, not that Moon.

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Robert Moon, ("Mr. ZIP") inventor of ZIP code, dies at age 83M

BY SARA SHECKLER The Orlando Sentinel

LEESBURG, Fla. -- In postal circles, Robert Aurand Moon was known as ``Mr. ZIP.''

Moon, who invented the U.S. Postal Service's ZIP code system and later was director of delivery services for the entire nation, died Wednesday after a prolonged illness.

Moon, 83, was a resident at Leesburg Nursing Center in Leesburg, ZIP code 34748.

A native of Williamsport, Pa., Moon began his lengthy career with the post office as a postal inspector in Philadelphia and Chicago in the 1940s.

``He started working on the ZIP code idea in 1940,'' Barbara Moon, his wife of 52 years, said Thursday. ``He loved his job and the post office.''

Creating the ZIP code -- the national postal distribution system -- was her husband's greatest accomplishment, she said. (''ZIP'' is an abbreviation for Zoning Improvement Plan.)

``There was a 12-page booklet written by a former postmaster general about his achievement,'' she said.

According to postal records, July 1, 1963, was the official date the first Directory of Post Offices was issued using ZIP code numbers.

Robert Moon retired in 1965, only to return five years later to Washington, D.C., as director of delivery services.

``He was brought in to Washington to advance the usage of the ZIP code,'' his wife said.

The Moons moved from Reston, Va., to Zellwood, Fla., in 1977, after he retired for the second time from the U.S. Postal Service.

``I think he rather loved being called `Mr. ZIP,''' said Barbara Moon. ``He made a gold lavaliere for me that said `Mrs. ZIP.'''

She said that during his career, her husband often visited chief executives and presidents of big companies.

``He was a wonderful speaker. He could address a group of 25 or 2,500 talking about the ZIP code,'' Barbara Moon said.

Outside of the postal service, Robert Moon was a Mason and volunteered for Meals on Wheels in Orange County, Fla., the Zellwood Methodist Church in Zellwood and Florida Hospital Waterman in Eustis, Fla.

``He did anything for anybody he could help,'' Barbara Moon said.

Other survivors are sisters Jean Moore of Raleigh, N.C., and Mary Katherine O'Brien of Bridgeport, Conn.

Arrangements are being handled by the National Cremation Society in Fruitland Park, Fla.

-- Lars (larsguy@yahoo.com), April 13, 2001

Answers

Prize offerred for best epitaph.

-- lars (larsguy@yahoo.com), April 13, 2001.

Here I lay

full of zip.

And they say

I must R.I.P.

ooh..I hope I win! ;)

-- Peg (pegmcleod@mediaone.net), April 13, 2001.


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