GADSDEN, ALA. — “Mister Sid” has finally called it a day.

Sidney Richardson, 90, retired last week from Gadsden’s Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. plant, 72 years after he was hired.

Richardson was the longest-serving hourly Goodyear employee for the corporation worldwide.

More than 9,000 employees have been hired at the plant since Richardson, as attested by his time clock card — No. 0912. New employee cards have passed the 10,000 mark. He was the only remaining employee with a “zero” number.

At a ceremony, celebrating his history with the plant, Richardson said he would miss coming to work every day and “seeing my family because I spent a lot of time with my work family over the years.”

“It’s really all I’ve ever known, so I will miss it,” he said. “But the time is right.”

“Sid came from our greatest generation,” said Local 12 President David Hayes, “one that knew hard work and had to work hard to get by in life, a generation that was grateful to have a good job and took pride in their job by coming to work and doing their job to the best of their ability.”

Richardson began working at the plant on Tuesday, June 22, 1943, at the age of 17. That same week, the Allies began bombing Hamburg, the Nazis rounded up Jews in Holland, and race riots gripped the city of Detroit. There were segregated bathrooms at the Gadsden plant, and not yet a union. That was organized later during his first year on the job.

Richardson started at the plant making less than 50 cents an hour.

During his time with Goodyear, Richardson served in the U.S. Army from 1944 to 1947. He also delivered the morning paper for The Gadsden Times for almost 40 years. At the plant, Richardson worked in the reclaim plant, which no longer exists, in the Mix Center, in the calendar/cutters department, and driving a forklift. He worked under 16 plant managers.

When he was hired, the plant produced about 5,000 tires a day. Now, it makes more than 22,000 a day.

At Richardson’s retirement, Linkous presented him with a plaque bearing something “Mr. Sid” said, which will be posted inside the plant as a reminder to employees.

“Put forth a lot of effort,” it reads, “Put one foot in front of the other, and you can get through anything.”

Source: al.com