Market Basket’s oldest employee dies at 96
Arthur St. John may not have been known far outside the Stratham, New Hampshire, area. But he was a favorite among customers of the Market Basket in town.
St. John, a bagger at the Stratham store for 27 years and the popular grocery chain’s oldest employee, died Tuesday, according to the New Hampshire Union Leader. He was 96.
“People loved him here,” Dean Clevesy, the store’s director, told the newspaper.
Sad news. 96-yr-old Arthur St. John, Market Basket’s oldest employee, has died. He was a veteran bagger in Stratham. https://t.co/mKgz9GzOBl pic.twitter.com/17ay4MHBse
— Jason Schreiber (@Schreibernews) May 24, 2017
According to the Union Leader, shoppers would wait in St. John’s line even if it was a bit longer.
“A lot of people like me when I bag,” St. John told Seacoastonline.com after his 96th birthday last summer. “They like my bagging; they tell me that.”
St. John, who worked up until last week, lived in Exeter with his two dogs. His wife of 52 years, Edna, died in 2002. His brother, Oscar, who used to work alongside him, passed away in 2012.
According to Seacoastonline.com, St. John followed a strict routine:
Arthur is one of the most reliable and dedicated employees of the store. His routine never varies. He arrives promptly at work in his white Buick. He parks in the same parking space out front. If it’s not available, he’ll loop around the parking lot until it opens up. He meticulously folds, then rolls up, his store apron at the end of every shift.
“I’m on time all the time,” St. John told the news site after his 94th birthday.
“I come here when it snows if I can get out of my driveway,” he added.
