Henry Rio, L.A. Employee for 56 Years, Dies
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Henry Rio, who when he retired in 1980 as chief assistant city clerk had been a municipal employee for longer than anyone else in Los Angeles’ history--a record that friends say still stands--is dead at the age of 77.
Rio, an Alhambra resident who died Friday at the San Gabriel Valley Medical Center after a lengthy illness, had worked for the city over a period of 56 years upon his retirement. He began in 1924 as a Civil Service department messenger-page in the old City Hall on Broadway between 2nd and 3rd streets.
His city service was interrupted by World War II, when he enlisted in the Army as a private and emerged as a captain. He saw action in the Battle of the Bulge.
Survivors include a daughter, Michele Mettraw, and two grandsons. Funeral services will be held at 3 p.m. Tuesday in the Church of the Hill Chapel at Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills, with burial there.
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