Credit: Fox 19
A Horsham grocery store worker celebrated his 85th birthday by calling it a career.
Rich Czerwonka has been a fixture at Acme Markets in Horsham since 1963. He started stocking shelves on the overnight shift at just 23 years old and remembers going to work the night President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.
And to celebrate his milestone, he was recently featured in a Fox news segment.
Back then, bagging groceries was a trained skill, and Czerwonka took pride in every detail — from straightening cereal boxes to making the floors shine.
“When you walked in that front door, that floor would shine like a million dollars,” Czerwonka said.
For nearly 50 years, he worked nights, never losing his eye for detail. Then, in his later years, he moved to the front of the store, becoming a cashier, a friend to customers and a staple of the community.
“I really enjoy talking to people. Sometimes, it’s a pleasure when you get up in the morning, and you’re going to go talk to somebody,” Czerwonka said.
Czerwonka lost his wife of 49 years in 2015, so his coworkers became his family. He played Santa at Christmas and never missed a day during the COVID-19 pandemic.
After 61 years, 7 months and 24 days, Czerwonka made his final announcement over the store intercom:
“Acme family, I’m walking out the door for the last time. I’m happy I’ve worked with you all these years. God bless and long life.”
Czerwonka’s legacy will live on in the people he greeted, trained, laughed with and loved — proof that a life well lived is built one small act of kindness at a time.
