Milton Garland; Oldest Worker Had Retired at 104

Milton Garland, 104, the country’s oldest worker who retired only last May. He would have been 105 on Aug. 23. The man who collected 41 patents for refrigeration innovations was given the nation’s oldest worker designation in 1998 by Green Thumb, a nonprofit group that helps older and disadvantaged people get jobs. (The organization later conceded that Garland had competition for the title but won because he was the only one willing and able to travel to Washington, D.C., for the ceremony.) The Waynesboro, Pa., mechanical engineer kept working until a heart attack in May forced him to quit and move to a nursing home. He spent his entire career--from 1920 to 2000--working for Frick Co., a refrigeration equipment manufacturer now a part of York International. In recent years, he organized a training school for company engineers and wrote an engineering design manual he called “Industrial Refrigeration 102” in honor of his age at the time. In earlier years, he helped solve World War II rubber shortages by inventing cooling processes enabling production of artificial rubber, and helped feed troops overseas by making machinery for the large-scale production of dry ice. In 1996, Garland earned the designation “Mr. Refrigeration” from the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers. His most popular invention, the group said, was the first ice maker to freeze ice on the outside of 4-inch by 10-foot tubes, which helped cool workers in South African gold mines and aid in chicken processing plants, dairies and other food facilities. Born in Harrisburg, Pa., Garland grew up working, delivering newspapers and then repairing motorcycles. He worked his way through Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, Mass., and served in the Navy during World War I before joining Frick. On Thursday in Waynesboro, Pa.