{"id":41412,"date":"2016-10-09T23:36:18","date_gmt":"2016-10-10T03:36:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/?p=41412"},"modified":"2016-10-09T23:36:18","modified_gmt":"2016-10-10T03:36:18","slug":"publix-store-manager-retires-after-33-year-career-that-started-in-lehigh-acres","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/2016\/10\/publix-store-manager-retires-after-33-year-career-that-started-in-lehigh-acres\/","title":{"rendered":"Publix Store Manager Retires After 33-Year Career That Started In Lehigh Acres"},"content":{"rendered":"

Written By\u00a0AARON LITTLE Santa Rosa Press Gazette<\/p>\n

\"\"
Rev, Murray Hamilton talks to retiring Ron Littleford photo by Aaron Little<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ron Littleford turned his Publix bagger job into a career of 33 years, the last eight of which he served at the Pace store.<\/p>\n

This Saturday, Littleford retires at just 49 years old.<\/p>\n

Publix allows Littleford to retire at a relatively young age \u2014 most people retire at 65 \u2014 because of the store\u2019s success, he said.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s fueled by Littleford\u2019s dedication.<\/p>\n

Littleford is not a Santa Rosa County resident, but he makes the drive from his Niceville home \u2014 60 miles each way \u2014 because he loves the store, he said.<\/p>\n

His love for the grocery industry, however, began more than three decades ago.<\/p>\n

Bagging groceries was Littleford\u2019s first position when he started at the Publix in Lehigh Acres, Fla., on May 7, 1983. He said conversations with his managers led him to see career opportunities with the company.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Becoming store manager, Littleford said, was his goal when he turned 18. Originally, he said he wanted to be in the buying department with corporate, but later felt interacting with customers and employees as a manager was more rewarding.<\/p>\n

So is watching those employees develop in their careers.<\/p>\n

A number of employees found long-term jobs under Littleford. He said he\u2019s hired several when they were 16 and looking for work \u2014 now, some are managers in the store.<\/p>\n

Another key to the Pace store\u2019s success is its community involvement.<\/p>\n

Through supporting the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, teachers\u2019 luncheons, and providing food for the Santa Rosa County Martin Luther King Jr. Prayer Breakfast, Littleford said, \u201cWe try to be supportive of the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Such efforts haven\u2019t gone unnoticed.<\/p>\n

Rev. Murray Hamilton, of Heart of God Church, who helps organize the prayer breakfast, stopped by Publix on Monday and thanked Littleford for the store\u2019s support the past six years.<\/p>\n

As thank-yous and goodbyes are said, and Littleford\u2019s time at the store comes to a close, there\u2019s just one thing left: post-retirement life.<\/p>\n

Littleford said he plans to spend more time with his family. He has a 22-year-old, Jordan, at the University of South Carolina, and he has a 9-year-old son, Jake, whom he\u2019ll be able to see more.<\/p>\n

He said he wants to get involved with Jake\u2019s baseball team, and enjoys fishing and golfing with both his sons.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Written By\u00a0AARON LITTLE Santa Rosa Press Gazette Ron Littleford turned his Publix bagger job into a career of 33 years, the last eight of which he served at the Pace… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41412"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41412"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41412\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}