Beloved Minnesota McDonald’s Employee Dies at the Age of 92

Over 30 years ago a retired Minnesota man started working for his local McDonald's in Wayzata, Minnesota. He worked the drive-thru window and people loved to see his smile every day. Sadly, he passed away recently.

His name was Art Mason. He absolutely loved getting to greet people in the drive-thru while working. KARE 11 reports, though, that Art passed away on October 23rd, 2022. He was 92 years old.

Who was Art Mason?

KARE 11 originally did a story about Art in 2019. He used to work at a factory job and was enjoying retirement for a few months when, as he says, "'I was bored to death.'" Soon he found himself at McDonald's.

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The store was short staffed so Art was asked to fill in just temporarily for a few weeks. Little did they know that a few weeks would end up being a lot longer than that. Art worked there for over 30 years! And people loved to see him in the drive-thru. One customer who spoke to KARE 11 about Art said, "'He is just the sweetest, sweetest guy. So happy, so happy, like every day’s a great new day for him.'"

One customer went through the drive-thru every day because of Art, others gifted pins to add to his baseball cap he wore every day (he estimated in the 2019 story that he had over a thousand gifted pins), and another customer made him a blue scarf he wore during the winter.

It's sad to hear that such a great person is gone but he serves as a reminder to everyone to enjoy every day and always be kind to others. Put a smile on people's faces like Art did!