L.A. transit cleaner retires at 100

LOS ANGELES, March 23 (UPI) -- A Los Angeles man who worked cleaning buses for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority for 76 years has called it quits on his 100th birthday.

The MTA held a gala two-hour celebration for Arthur Winston at a cavernous bus garage named for him on Wednesday, with about 400 colleagues and the Los Angeles Lakers cheerleaders.

Speaker after speaker told of his work ethic and sense of humor in a career that began when Franklin Delano Roosevelt was president, the Los Angeles Times reported.

In 76 years, he missed just one day of work, in 1988 when his wife Frances died. MTA records also showed he had never once been late for work.

Officials noted how he had worked for 41 cents an hour for a decade while white men made 10 cents more.

A friend told how Winston recently renewed his driver's license, and the clerk suggested he let someone else drive him around.

To that, he responded: "I think you should let a younger person take your job."