FORT SMITH, Ark. (WHDH) – A 97-year-old man from Arkansas celebrated nearly 80 years of working for Coco-Cola.
Fred Kirkpatrick, the dedicated employee, has no plans of calling it quits anytime soon.
Kirkpatrick could tell a story about each of the Coca-Cola bottles behind his glass display.
“I’ve always been interested in history, and I collect stamps and I collect baseball cards and things like that,” said Kirkpatrick.
It was only natural for him to collect old record and Coca-Cola memorabilia. The items are showcased in the archives room and the museum.
“So that’s primarily what I do is look after the museum and the archives,” said Kirkpatrick,
Kirkpatrick got his start at the Coca-Cola Bottling Company in 1938.
“I started out just as a clerk in the office. Then I became the bookkeeper and the office manager and later on became the operations manager,” he said.
The plant moved to its current location in the 80s. Kirkpatrick has seen it evolve over the years. For one thing, they don’t bottle Coca-Cola anymore.
“We really are just a distributor now, but for more than 90 years we were a bottler,” he said.
Kirkpatrick has always worked for the company, with the exception of when he was serving in World War II.
He says he has no plans to retire anytime soon.
(Copyright (c) 2024 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)