Bill Dudley, a British Second World War veteran is enjoying his current career as a McDonald’s employee and claims that despite being 90, he is ‘lovin it’. Certainly the oldest McDonald’s employee in Europe, Dudley is respected and regarded as a hero by his colleagues and customers alike.
Dudley’s wife, who calls him ‘Old McDonald’, says that her husband has no intention ever to leave his current job, because he loves working there. She says that Dudley is determined to carry on working until he gets to an age when he is ‘too old’ to carry on.
Bill Dudley, a great-grandfather, was awarded a recognition medal (the Arctic Medal) by the British government for his role and heroism in the Second World War. He is quite certain that he can efficiently carry on with his job at McDonalds, and he has no plans to quit his job.
Working for the fast-food giant’s branch in Mold, North Wales, the 90-year -old employee is proud to be the oldest of its employees, in 7500 branches of McDonald’s in Europe. Dudley, who lives in Connah’s Quay, North Wales, says that every day he looks forward to going to work and this is all because of the respect he receives from his co-workers and customers. He says that meeting customers and talking to them is one of the best things about his job. Talking about the much younger staff he works with, Dudley says he loves teaching them, using his experience. Since Dudley served in the Royal Navy during the War, he says that he treats his staff as a crew and the branch as a battleship, so coordination, mutual respect and understanding is the key.
Dudley’s 90th birthday was celebrated by the staff and some of his regular customers; his wife, Margaret, 70, was also present at the party. She says that although she calls him ‘Old McDonald’, Dudley thinks he is not the oldest employee of McDonald’s, since there is someone in America who has just turned 100. This employee, Dudley says, opens the branch and closes it. Dudley is currently doing two shifts a week and working as a part-time employee, but he is quite happy with his job and his employer, the ITV News reports.
One of the many interesting stories from Bill Dudley’s wartime experiences is about a torpedo that hit his ship. During a mission in the Second World War, Dudley narrowly escaped death when the torpedo hit his ship. 50 years later Dudley had a chance to meet the soldier who had fired that torpedo; Bill forgave him and told him that he had no grudge or feeling of anger against him.
After the war had ended, Bill took quite a few professions throughout his life before ending up at McDonald’s. He worked for Airbus for almost a decade. His longest period of employment was with British Steel, where he worked for 35 years. He also worked as a taxi driver for ABA cars in Shotton, for more than 15 years.