97-year-old bartender: 'I'll be here till the place closes'
RIVER WEST | At 97, Lee Martin may be the oldest bartender in Chicago - plenty of reason for a party at Richard's Bar
It's not clear if he's the oldest bartender in town, but it's a title Lee Martin doesn't think much about.
"Nobody believes me when I tell them my age anyways," said Martin, who turned 97 Friday. "They think I'm in my 60s or 70s. I have to show them my ID.
The soft-spoken Missouri-bred bartender works three days a week at Richard's Bar, a Rat Pack-themed River West tavern.
"I've worked here 40 years and seen flashers, mooners and hookers and three different owners . . . and I'll be here till the place closes," said Martin.
"Or till he's fired," chimed in the bar's manager, who goes by Bunny.
"I'm just thankful every morning when I wake up," said Martin, who, other than quitting smoking and switching from vodka to a few Old Styles a day, has no longevity secrets. "I just stay active . . . and I always eat a bowl of oatmeal in the morning and skip lunch."
Why skip lunch?
"We don't serve food here," said Martin in a matter-of-fact fashion before shuffling to a cooler in the rear to grab a sixer of beer -- a ritual otherwise known as exercise.
Arrive early if you want a beer from Martin. He traded in late nights years ago for the 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. shift Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
"He's part of the place, like that old jukebox," said Bunny.
So much so, in fact, that Martin is thinking about showing up to work Tuesday morning -- even though he's having a cataract removed Monday.
And he never applied for the job--it sort of found him.
"Two old ladies owned the place, and I came in and one day and one of them said, 'Why don't you work here this afternoon so my daughter can go to the store?' and I've been here ever since," said Martin.
Previous gigs for Martin include working as a banker in the Loop and for the War Food Administration during WWII. "We took care of food for the troops," he said.
One drawback of being a bartender at 97: "Lot's of my customers have died off," Martin lamented.
But not for long. Moments later a young man plopped in a stool and placed his hard hat on the bar.
"Happy Birthday Lee! I'll have a Bud Light."
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