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McDonald’s Restaurant Throws Retirement Party For Longtime Employee With Down Syndrome

David’s mother, 90-year-old Anneliese David, told NECN: ‘I’m so grateful she could stay at this McDonald’s for so long’. Management invited community members to celebrate David’s huge milestone. Instead, more than 100 people packed the McDonald’s – loyal customers, former neighbors, adults with disabilities and their relatives, and many others – all there to wish David well.

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Since 1984, David has run the McDonald’s fryolator. She also received cards, Disney stuffed animals, and a proclamation from the state House of Representatives.

Freia often goes to McDonald’s, even on her day off.

I think Freia David and the people of Needham have clearly put that myth to rest.

Assistant Manager Oscar Gonzalez, who has been there 10 years, echoed similar sentiments. “We love you, we appreciate you, we respect you, and we’re all better people for having you in our lives”.

David lives at the Charles River Center-supported home in Needham.

“She is one of the most handsome and upbeat people you could ever hope to know”, he wrote in a Facebook post.

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According to the coworkers of David, every time she had a shift, she’d greet every fellow employee with an affectionate hug and a smile. “It was nice”, David said of the party. “Everybody knows her here”. “We are sad that she is retiring, but very happy for the opportunity we’ve had working with her”, Bob Broughton, director of operations and Timothy McCoy, owner/operator, said in a release.

Boston Globe via Getty Images