FORT PIERCE, Fla. — You could call her the Fort Pierce "McLegend."
Barbara Cramer has worked at a Treasure Coast McDonald's for 53 years.
Most of that tenure has been at the U.S. Highway 1 restaurant in Fort Pierce, where staff celebrated her work anniversary Wednesday afternoon.
When asked what the celebration meant to her, Cramer teared up and said, "Everything."
The Fort Pierce McDonald's owner, Ricky Wade, gave recognition to Cramer at the celebration, saying, "We are proud to have you as part of our family. We are honored to celebrate this special moment with you."
Cramer, originally from New Jersey, was looking for jobs in 1970 when the Golden Arches gave her a chance.
"I just applied for the school board, and then the next day I applied here at this store, and they called me first," Cramer said. "So I came here and I winded up, you know, working my way up."
Fifty-three years later, she's reflecting on the days when the McDonald's menu was mainly burgers and no breakfast.
"Old registers where you had to punch in the total and you had to hit the bar to get the cash register out," she said.
Cramer said she never thought of working anywhere else.
Her first husband worked with her at McDonald's before passing away. Cramer's second husband worked at a McDonald's along Florida's Turnpike.
He also died, but Cramer just kept working.
She's "semi-retired," working the Fort Pierce restaurant and other locations part-time.
The 75-year-old said she has no plans of permanently retiring anytime soon.
Her tenure at one company bucks the American working trend by a long shot.
The latest Bureau of Labor Statistics shows the average length of employment at one company for men is 4.5 years and for women is 3.8 years.
