Co-Workers Honor Slain Letter Carrier

In a solemn tribute to slain letter carrier Joseph Ileto, four colleagues from the Chatsworth Post Office on Friday silently lowered and folded American and U.S. Postal Service flags.

Federal and state prosecutors have charged Buford O. Furrow, 37, a white supremacist from Washington state, with Ileto’s slaying on Tuesday as well as the shooting of three children, a teenager and an elderly woman at the North Valley Jewish Community Center in Granada Hills.

Ileto was killed as he delivered mail on Valley Circle Boulevard in Chatsworth about an hour after the assault-rifle attack at the community center, authorities said.

The Postal Service flag will be presented to Ileto’s mother during funeral services for her son at 1 p.m. today at the Skyrose Chapel at Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier.

Chatsworth letter carriers decided to give the flag to the Ileto family as a memorial to their co-worker’s selflessness, said Alfonso Ontiveros, a supervisor in the Chatsworth office who participated in the flag lowering.

“Ultimately, he gave his life serving his country,” Ontiveros said. “Giving his family the flag was the least we could do for someone as exceptional as he was. I wish we could do more.”

Ramona Franco, officer in charge at Chatsworth, said postal employees are struggling to come to terms with their loss.

“It’s extremely sad,” she said. “It’s been a difficult week, but the entire office has done a terrific job in working through it.”

The Chatsworth Post Office is across the street from the 7-Star Suites Hotel, the site of an hours-long, room-by-room search for the shooting suspect after the bloody rampage at the community center.

The last letter carrier to be killed while on duty was Mun Hon Kim, who was robbed and shot by a group of youths on June 11, 1996, as he made his rounds in Washington, D.C., said Terri Bouffiou, a U.S. Postal Service spokeswoman.