The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-10-12
Long SerOice EnlpIoye OfU.S. RubberRetires
T. p. Saunders Concludes 53 YeoFs With Firm
By LARRY SIIEPLEY tNaugatuck Correspondent

Naugatuek, Oct. l2-The oldest present employe, from point of service, Thomas P. Saunders, is re- tiring tomorrow after 53 years of continuous service with the United States Rubber Company, Naugatuck Footwear Plant.
 VT. P,", as he is afectionAtely known around the plant came to work in 1892 In the ticket office of the company which was then known as the Wales- s-Goodyear Metallic Shoe Company, A few years later he became timekeeper and contin- ued in that capacity until 1917 when no was made paymaster of the Shoe Company.
 From 1920, when the Shoe Com pany merged with the Glove Com pany, until l94l, Mir, Saunders served Ns paymaster for the U, s, Rubber branch. In February of that year he was transferred to the In- dustrial Relations Department where he has acted in several re- sponsible capacities up to the pres- ent time,
 NhtlVe or EnRIunu
 T, P. Saunders was born in Eng land and when three years old was brought by his parents to settle in Naugntuek, He attended Nauga- tuck grammar and high schools, In 1902 he married the former May Baldwin whose father was 0 promi- nent attorney in town, They Tee side on High street and have five children, three girls and two boys, and four grandchildren,
 The dean of U, s, Rubber em. ployes is known for his genial and kindly disposition, Soft-spoken and mild-mannered, he has been a familiar figure around the plant for the past b3 years, In that time, Tom has seen lot of people come and go, he has seen many changes made In both the town and plant, Possessed of n keen memory he can go way back In reeolleeting plant history, and many are the interest. ing anecdotes he ean tell,
 Mir, Saunders has four brothers, and all except one still hold re- sponsible positions in the Footwear Plant, Edward A. in charge Of Stationery stores; Robert A., In eharge of Mechanical Stores, and Arthur IT, clerk in Mechanical Stores, William B., left the com- pany some time ago to start in busi- ness for himself, after % years Of service, The Saunders brothers have set a service record that will be hard to better. Their combined total iS 90l years service in the Footwear Plant
 It is recalled that MT, Saunders could have retired few years back, since the U. s, Rubber Company provides for automatic retirement Of an employe on Q liberal pension provided he has served 20 eonSeeu- tive years and has reached his 0eth birthday Tom elected to do his Dit by staying on the job during the war Now that victory has been won, he deserves n Wollseafned rest He looks forward With pleasure to spending a large portion of his lei- sure time with his favorite sports, fishing and hunting,
 900 At Farewell
 At an open house held in the In. dustriai Relations Building after working hours yesterday, over 200 friends from oil over the plant came to say goodbye" to Tom and wish him many happy days in retirmeht' He was presented with hunting outfit by those attending and . Scrapboek with pictures and other hIghlights in his career
 Among those present were; H. F. Garter, factory manager; V. N, Peterson, control manager; II. N, Barrett, production manager; R, D. Lowell industrial relations mana. ger; T. J. Nelligan, employment manager; ?. Zonine, head of indus trial engineering M. J. 0arriek' waterproof superintendent; R. J. Ford, fabric mill superintendent; s. Glover. laboratory superintendent J. II. Robinson head Of the product development departmeht Stella MeCann, training director.