Sample Retirement Speech: Retirement Speech to Retiree

Summary: this speech looks back on the working career of a mail carrier/post person and wishes him/her well in the future.It is suitable for a colleague or family member to give at a function celebrating the retirement.

Dave has spent his life delivering letters of congratulations and condolence. He has brought the news and the views of thousands of people to their relatives and friends. He has delivered examination results, all sorts of advertisements and of course those dreaded accounts. In fact he can probably tell an awful lot about people on his delivery route simply by the mail they receive. Unfortunately, for the curious amongst us anyway, Dave is the soul of discretion and will never reveal all he knows.

Today I hope he heard the plop of the post in his own hallway. After all, he is on the receiving end of our cards and our congratulations. It is his retirement day and we are gathered to wish him well in the future. Today, you see, Dave is starting out on a new adventure.

Now he may groan a little at that thought. He may claim that all he wants to do now is to relax for the rest of his life. He may visualise the ideal retirement gift as a rocking chair with a footstool for his sore feet. We can understand that because being a mail carrier can be very tiring and demanding. So we will be very agreeable and allow that he should have a few days rest or a short vacation. Then it will be back to the drawing board Dave and you can map out what you intend to do with the rest of your life.

Hopefully you will now have more time for your family and to catch up with old friends. It will be great to be able to say, "I will meet you on Tuesday" and know that you don't have to go to work that day. It will be even nicer to be able to lie on a bit on a Monday morning.

Life, though, is full of challenges and Dave could never resist a challenge. So I am quite sure that he will soon be doing something new and exciting. I don't know what that is. In fact Dave may not know what that is just yet. However I am sure he will develop new hobbies or skills and find satisfaction and enjoyment in so doing. He may, for instance, decide to cycle from coast to coast or to learn hula dancing. He could decide to keep greyhounds or start teaching a parrot to talk. Maybe he will produce a TV programme called "Secrets in the post" Perhaps we'll see him in the papers as a representative for retired mail carriers/post people. Dave, being the kind of person he is, may find his satisfaction in joining some community or parish organization and helping others.

Whatever Dave chooses to do we hope that he will enjoy good health and happiness. We hope too that he will have happy memories of his years as a mail carrier/post person. Finally, I think it would be appropriate Dave, that if you go on that world cruise that you should send us a postcard saying "Wish you were here."

Ladies and gentlemen please raise your glasses in a toast to Dave. May his retirement be all he has dreamt of himself. Dave!

(If applicable) It gives me great pleasure to present you with this gift as a token of our good wishes. We hope that it will always remind you of your colleagues and your many friends.

Today you are leaving, going on your way
And we've gathered here to say
That you've done well over the years
And could probably write a play
About the letters you had in your sack
The griefs, the dramas the joys
And birthday cards that meant a lot
To so many girls and boys.
You brought bad news and good news too
In envelopes brown, white and blue
You linked up friends and families
So folks tonight I say "Now please"
Raise your glasses and raise a toast
To that wonderful person who brought the post!