As the old saying goes, neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor hail shall keep the postmen from their appointed rounds. Ernie Precourt would know. For 38 years the Wareham mail carrier braved the elements to deliver the town’s mail on foot.

“I loved my job,” Precourt said. “Two hours in the office, six hours on the street. ... I certainly couldn’t complain.”

Precourt, who celebrates his 100th birthday on April 5, worked for the United States Postal Service in Wareham before trucks were used to carry mail.

His route took him through downtown Wareham, where he would walk several miles each day delivering letters to homes and businesses.

“I crabbed somedays, but I met a lot of great people,” he recalled. “At one point, I knew everyone in town.”

A resident of High Street for more than 75 years, Precourt said Wareham’s downtown hasn’t changed much over the years. He said much of the commercial development has occurred in other parts of town.

Precourt became a postman in in 1928 after quitting his job at the Gateman Bus Company and passing the Post Office entrance examination.

“I still remember my score, I got an 83,” he said, beaming. “I was in the top five" of the people who took the test at the same time he did.

Precourt spent much of his life in Wareham. He moved to town from Middleborough when he was 14 years old.

“[Wareham] was a good place for kids to grow-up. ... The best part is we had a lot of freedom. We explored the woods and went swimming in Blackmore Pond,” he said. “I think I got the best of it."

In the 1920s and 1930s, Wareham was a bustling town, Precourt said. He has memories of streetcars carrying commuters and curious tourists into town hourly. Precourt also recalled taking his wife out dancing in local hot spots.

He married his wife, Eleanor, in 1936. The couple raised four children in their High Street home, which Precourt still owns. Since December, he has been at Sippican Nursing Home in Marion following the death of his wife.

In his youth, Precourt enjoyed caring for his two horses and attending church.

“My grandmother was always saying to go to church ... and I always have,” he said.

Precourt retired from the Postal Service at age 65 and became a daily communicant at St. Patrick’s Church on High Street.

“He is an icon here in the parish and quite a remarkable man,” said Father John Sullivan of St. Patrick’s Church.

Father Sullivan will be preaching a 100th birthday sermon for Precourt during a special mass at the nursing home on April 5.

What are Precourt’s thoughts on how he got to the ripe old age of 100?

“I don’t know how I got so lucky," he said. "It’s in God’s hands.”