Arthur Winston (March 22, 1906 – April 13, 2006) was a

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

Metro Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to: Geography * Metro (city), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urban ...

employee for 76 years. He is best known for being honored as the "Employee of the Century" by the U.S. Department of Labor for his unparalleled reliability.

Biography

Winston was born and raised in

Oklahoma Territory The Territory of Oklahoma was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 2, 1890, until November 16, 1907, when it was joined with the Indian Territory under a new constitution and admitted to the Union as ...

. His first job, at age 10, was picking cotton. In 1918, his family moved to California. Winston graduated from

Jefferson High School This is a list of memorials to Thomas Jefferson, the 3rd president of the United States and the author of the United States Declaration of Independence. Buildings Elementary schools *Jefferson Elementary School, in Cammack Village, Arkansas *Thoma ...

in 1922 and got a job working for the Los Angeles Railway for four years before quitting because a black man could not drive a bus. He returned to work in January 1934 for the Los Angeles Railway where his income was 41 cents an hour. In 1925, he married Frances Smith. The couple had four children and five grandchildren, a number of great-grandchildren and a great-great grandson. The Winstons were married for 64 years until her death at age 82 in 1989; the sick day Winston took to attend his wife's funeral was the only instance he missed work in 72 years. Winston stayed with the agency through its name changes, starting from the Los Angeles Railway which became Los Angeles Transit Lines in 1945, to the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority created in 1958, the

Southern California Rapid Transit District The Southern California Rapid Transit District (almost always referred to as ''RTD'' or rarely as ''SCRTD'') was a public transportation agency established in 1964 to serve the Greater Los Angeles area. It was the successor to the original Los ...

created in 1964, and as it is known today Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority "Metro" created in 1993. In 1996, President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (Birth name, né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 ...

awarded Winston the "Employee of the Century" citation for his work ethic and dedication. He is the most reliable worker that the

United States Department of Labor The United States Department of Labor (DOL) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is responsible for the administration of federal laws governing occupational safety and health, wage and hour standards, unemplo ...

has ever chronicled. He worked for 72 years without arriving late or leaving early and having taken the single sick day. He attributed his work ethic to his upbringing, asserting that his father taught him the value of hard work at an early age. Upon his retirement on his 100th birthday, he stated that he was planning to visit his 98-year-old brother in Tennessee and had the intention of remaining active in various endeavors. "I'm going to keep active. I can't afford to just sit down. I wouldn't do that," he said. "I don't drink and I don't smoke, so I feel alright." Winston died of

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, ...

at his great-granddaughter's home in Los Angeles on April 13, 2006, less than one month after his retirement. He is interred at

Inglewood Park Cemetery Inglewood Park Cemetery, 720 East Florence Avenue in Inglewood, California, was founded in 1905. A number of notable people, including entertainment and sports personalities, have been interred or entombed there. History The proposed est ...

Inglewood, California Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 107,762. It was incorporated on February 14, 1908. The city is in the South Bay ...

. The Arthur Winston/Mid-Cities bus yard in

Leimert Park, Los Angeles Leimert Park (; ) is a neighborhood in the South Los Angeles region of Los Angeles, California. Developed in the 1920s as a mainly residential community, it features Spanish Colonial Revival homes and tree-lined streets. The Life Magazine/ ...

is named in his honor.

References

External links

Official statement on Arthur Winston's death

BBC Article on Arthur WinstonVoice of America Article
{{DEFAULTSORT:Winston, Arthur 1906 births 2006 deaths African-American centenarians People from Los Angeles Burials at Inglewood Park Cemetery Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority American men centenarians 20th-century African-American people