50 Clean Years
Longtime Richmond custodian has no plans to stop working
Photo Courtesy of Richmond Police Department
Sylvanius Brown has been a custodian for the city of Richmond since 1957.
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Dionne Waugh
Richmond.com
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Sylvanius Brown is a shy, soft-spoken man who smiles hesitantly. He has a gentle touch of a handshake and easy, craggy laugh.
But the Richmond man seems perplexed by the recent interest in his work of 50 years.
"I don't know. I've had a lot of other jobs," he said. "Work is work. A job is a job."
But Brown, who calls himself "70-plus" years old, has been a custodian for the city of Richmond since 1957. He has been working for the city more than half of his life.
And even though he's almost 80, he doesn't yet plan to retire.
"I'm getting there," he said with a quiet chuckle.
Brown's a familiar face throughout the halls of the Richmond Police Department on Grace Street. Even with the hundreds of employees who work on the multiple floors, everyone knows Mr. Brown.
His boss, crew chief Everett Ewell, said Brown was one of the first people he thought of to work in the new police building.
"He's probably the most consistently reliable person I've ever had working under me," said Ewell, who's known Brown for about 23 years.
In addition to working hard, Brown does a good job, too, Ewell said.
Brown is responsible for cleaning and maintaining the first and third floors of the police building, but Ewell sometimes calls upon him to help out on other floors.
"He doesn't ever ask why," Ewell said. "He often starts before I get here. I don't even have to ask."
For Brown, the mere fact of having a job is what's important. To some, it might seem unusual that he's worked the same job for 50 years, but not to him.
"I've worked hundreds of jobs," he said. "I guess the older you get, the less likely you are to change jobs."
Brown first started working for the city when he was 24 or 25 as a night-time custodian because he had tailoring school training during the day. He started off cleaning the old City Hall building and has worked in several other city-owned buildings. He's worked at the police department building since 2001.
Though his job began as a night-time shift, it moved to the early morning about 10 years ago, he said. He usually works from 6 a.m. until 2:30 p.m.
The best part of the job, Brown said, is pay day. When he first started, he was paid $7 or $8 every two weeks. Now he's making "much more," he said.
And the worst part of the job?
"I don't think of it in terms like that," he said. "All jobs have a down side."
Ewell said Brown's work ethic is a product of the time he grew up in.
"To him, this is no big deal because he's got the attitude that you have a job and you do it," Ewell said. "That’s probably lost on a lot of folks today."
That includes vacation time.
"I have to basically make him take a day off," Ewell said. "If not, he won't do it."
Brown said he tries not to miss a day of work.
"I don't like to burden nobody," he said.
However, when Brown does have time off, he spends it reading, fishing or keeping up with the Baltimore Orioles.
"Work is an important part of his life," Ewell said. "I can't imagine him just sitting at home."
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