Loretta Neely, a 47-year employee with Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), said she prayed long and hard for a job when she was 19 years old.
“I prayed and asked the Lord, I said, ‘If you give me a job, I promise you I’ll stay on it, I won’t leave it,'” she shared, according to Commercial Appeal. The Lord sent a messenger, which Neely said was a friend who informed her of a job opening at a Kentucky Fried Chicken located in West Memphis.
Neely, who started her KFC job at 400 N. Missouri St. on September 25, 1976, is now a manager at the 900 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive location in West Memphis. “After the Lord blessed me with that, I didn’t leave it,” Neely said.
The fast-food chain recently acknowledged the 66-year-old general manager with its Living Legend Award for her 47 years with the restaurant chain.
“I felt so honored to be called the living legend,” said Neely, a West Memphis resident. “I didn’t realize they all thought this much about me, it just filled my heart to be honored with such a reward.”
Neely started out as a cook at KFC and later moved into a cashier before being promoted to an assistant manager. Neely has joyfully upheld the duties in her current role as general manger for over 40 years making sure her job is “done right.”
Health issues has led Neely to move toward possible retirement. “I’m having a little health issue so I may not be able to give 101% like I’ve been doing,” Neely said.
However, retirement would open up the opportunity for the hard-working woman to spend more time with her family. As of now, she continues to enjoy clocking in five days a week to run her ten-hour shifts while hoping to be an inspiration to young workers.