Church letter postmarked in 1955 returned to sender

Embargo: San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, CA; **This image is for use with this specific article only** A letter marked "return to sender" has been delivered to an Alameda church. But the date of the postmark has people scratching their heads, and it has begun a nationwide search for who to send it to. KPIX via CNN Newsource

ALAMEDA, California (KPIX) -- A letter marked “return to sender” has been delivered to an Alameda church. But the date of the postmark has people scratching their heads, and it has begun a nationwide search for who to send it to.

It’s often said that God works in mysterious ways. It turns out, so does the U.S. Postal Service. Last month, it returned a letter to Christ Episcopal Church in Alameda, originally postmarked on October 26, 1955.

“Uh, it came back in the mail on August 20th, 2026, for ‘insufficient address,’” said church Rector Stephen McHale.

The envelope contained the baptismal certificate for a child named Pamela Jean Haslam, born to parents Robert and Lois Haslam. But the keepsake document is coming a bit late. The post office is only about a mile and a half (2.4 kilometres) from the church, so Rev. McHale said it’s a mystery to him why it took so long to be delivered.

“The other mystery I’m very curious about is where in the Alameda Post Office this envelope was sitting for 71 years,” he said, with a smile, “and how they decided to drop it back in the mail?”

The church, which has been around since 1869, takes record keeping seriously, and they even have Pamela’s baptism ceremony listed on their books. But she died in 1996 at the age of 41, so, the question now is, to whom to send the document now?

McHale put out a call on Facebook and it looks like her son may have been discovered living in Michigan. But at this point all they have is a mailing address.

“So, we are going to be sending him a photo copy of this document,” he said, laughing, “because we don’t trust the United States Postal Service anymore, to deliver in a timely way.”

Others may have just given up, but the church takes a long view of history. Its original building, and two other churches, were burned down by an arsonist on New Year’s Eve 1960. But a few things survived, including the marble baptismal font.

“This may be the original font in which Pamela was baptized,” said Rev. McHale.

He said, to him, the letter is a reminder that the church’s traditions go back for thousands of years, and it feels like part of its mission is to persevere despite the passage of time.

“We certainly take a long time to change, yes,” he said. “But we plan for the long run, yeah.”

Does that include taking 71 years to deliver the mail?

“Well, I’m glad it wasn’t a check for me!” he said.

The Bible says Moses wandered in the desert for 40 years. That’s only about half as long as it took to deliver the letter.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t say it’s a miracle,” McHale said. “Because this is the Post Office’s job. But it’s kind of delightful that we got it back.”

The envelope’s address seems to be a location on the old Alameda air base, so the reverend suspects the parents may have been a military family posted there. They are asking anyone with information about Pamela or her parents to contact them.