McDonald's employee celebrates retirement after 45 years

Dorothy “Dot” Sharp took her last order Friday — an Egg McMuffin meal — after 45 years of working at McDonald’s.

The final customer? Her granddaughter.

“It’s very sad for me to do this, but I figured it was time,” said Sharp, 84, of Hampton.

Sharp’s tenure at the chain began in 1978 — a time when McDonald’s signature Happy Meals didn’t exist.

When she first started at McDonald’s, Sharp recalled coworkers who were like family.

“Everybody that worked together loved each other,” she said.

After being promoted to manager in 1979, she worked until 2014 in the position. She began work at an old McDonald’s by Pennsylvania Turnpike entrance and ended her career at the McDonald’s on Walmart Drive in Richland.

Sharp said McDonald’s used to hold community events like parades, petting zoos, race car meet-and-greets and more.

There was even a “Big Mac bus” that would take employees on trips. Some, she remembered, were to Downtown Pittsburgh for dinner. Others went as far as SeaWorld in Orlando.

Happy Meals debuted in 1979. Sharpe reminisced about meal toys like Barbie and Hot Wheels gaining popularity.

“Oh my God,” she marveled. “We used to sell 20, 30 Happy Meals to one customer.”

In 2014, Sharp said she had some health issues. She decided to leave management and instead take over the drive-thru window because she loves customers.

“We have such great customers that come here,” Sharp said.

Throughout her time at McDonald’s, she’s gotten to know many repeat customers. Some of them dine there daily. She recalled two men who regularly stop in for coffee and a morning chat. She got a standing invitation to join them now that she’s retired.

When she turned 84 in December, Sharp decided it was time to retire.

“I don’t think I would have retired, but I’m having a few health problems,” she said.

Heading into retirement, Sharp is hoping to prioritize her family. She has two children who retired last year, and she’s hoping to travel a bit more.

Working at McDonald’s has become a family tradition, said Dotty Sims, Sharp’s granddaughter.

“Between me and my grandmother, my sister, my brother, my aunts, my uncles, my mother — it’s very much a family business,” said Sims, 35, of Hampton.

Annette Fix, Sharp’s daughter, also worked at McDonald’s for a period of time before she took a job at Walmart just up the hill.

“We got to go see each other,” said Fix, 62, of Valencia. “When she would get off work, she’d come up and shop … we’d go out to lunch, so it was good.”

Meghan Sweeney, owner/operator of McDonald’s through Cranberry-based Tri County Management, owns and operates 22 McDonald’s restaurants in Allegheny, Butler, Beaver and Lawrence counties.

“The basic principles of McDonald’s have not changed,” said Sweeney, 46, of Cranberry Township. “It’s a people business; you take care of your customers … and you do it all with a smile.”

Over the years, she’s gotten to know Sharp and her family well.

Sims said she’s always looked up to her grandmother and her work ethic.

“She’s always running into somebody she’s waited on or somebody she worked with over the years,” Sims said.

Fix, who retired from Walmart after working there for 28 years, cited her mother’s work ethic as a driving factor for her as well.

“I know the customers like her … she knows everybody,” she said. “She remembers everybody’s names.”

Sims, who still works at a different McDonald’s, got her start by working for 15 years alongside her grandmother, who trained her.

“Being trained by her was definitely interesting,” she said. “(Sharp’s) hard but fair.”

In a full-circle moment, Sims got to be Sharp’s last order before retirement on Friday.

“It was definitely bittersweet,” Sims said. “I mean, grandma was there for me when I took my first order when she was training me.”

Witnessing a McDonald’s employee retire after 45 years in the fast food business is rare. It’s usually a first job for most people.

“This is a job that somebody gets in high school … or sometimes through college … or it’s a job as a retiree who just, you know, wants to work a few hours a day to get out of the house,” she said.

Sharp said she had a “wonderful” experience working for McDonald’s. That’s why she stayed for 45 years.

“The people, the workers, the owners, the customers,” she said. “I loved them all.”

Sweeney said that Sharp made the job more enjoyable.

“I wish I had 100 more of her,” she said.