Lihue Postmaster Martin Dreier

Born in Hungary and a graduate of the University of Vienna, Martin Dreier (1887-1953) was the first postmaster to serve at the Lihue Post Office building on Rice Street, which was dedicated on Saturday, May 6, 1939, and is still in operation today.

He had emigrated from Europe to the United States in 1910 and had settled on Kauai in 1915, where he first worked for an uncle and became a naturalized United States citizen in 1916.

During World War I, he served in the Hawaii Army National Guard, after which, from 1921 to 1932, he was a clerk in the Kauai County Engineering Department, before joining the United States Post Office Department on Kauai in the mid-1930s.

At the Lihue Post Office dedication ceremony, which was held before a large crowd, Postmaster Dreier welcomed all attendees; Charlie Fern, editor of The Garden Island newspaper was master of ceremonies, Rev. Charles Keahi gave the invocation and Rev. Douglas Magers led the closing prayer.

Boy Scout Troop 94 and Cub Pack 35 presented a flag raising ceremony; the Kauai Community Orchestra, under the direction of Mrs. Henry Wedemeyer, played the National Anthem; and the Mokihana Club furnished decorations.

Especially featured in the dedication was the placing of a copper container behind a plaque in the recess of the cornerstone of the building.

The container held a copy of the week’s The Garden Island newspaper, photos of Congressional Delegate Sam Wilder King, the staff of the post office and Postmaster General Farley, and a copy of the dedication program.

Dreier was a member of the Jewish Organization of New York, Kauai Chamber of Commerce, Kauai Employees’ Association, Hawaii Postal Employees Association, Lihue Union Church, Order of the Elks, and the Civil Defense Unit of Lihue.

Longtime Nawiliwili resident Martin Dreier and his wife, Maria Kealoha Ellis, had three children: Mary Nell Snell, Hermine Vasconcellos and Richard Kekumunui.