A woman who worked at KFC for 47 years, serving up an estimated 5,000,000 drumsticks, has died after a battle with cancer.
Pauline Richards, 74, started at the branch in Taunton in Somerset in 1978 and was known as ‘Miss KFC’ to her loyal customers.
She worked nearly every possible role – cleaner, cashier, supervisor, manager and team leader – during her almost 50 years of service.
Her tenure at the branch set a record for the longest-serving KFC employee in the world.
Tributes have been paid to the cult hero, who was known for her banter, with customers remembering her as an ‘absolute legend’.
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One customer wrote: ‘She was a beautiful soul and will be sadly missed.’
Her passing prompted Taunton Town Council to issue a statement as well, which said they were extremely saddened by her passing.
‘She was an excited and incredibly deserving recipient of one of our Civic Awards back in March this year. Our thoughts are with her family and all of those who knew and loved her,’ they added.
Other local businesses have chimed in with their condolences, including Spud Shack, who said: ‘She will be very missed by everyone in Taunton. Pauline was very well known in the town for her dry sense of humour when dealing with people who were a tad intoxicated!’
Some customers said they remembered her for decades, writing: ‘I feel I’ve known all my life, you fed me many a night on the town, during my teens, 20s, 30s, 40s and now 50s.
‘A lovely hard-working lady, who will be sadly missed by many, I’m sure, thank you, Pauline, till we meet in the KFC in the sky.’
Speaking previously, Pauline told of her love of the job and how children used to give her sweet nicknames.
‘When I go out for a break, children would shout over to me ‘Hello Miss KFC’ and call me ‘Mum’ and ‘Nan’,’ she previously said.
‘Even on a Friday and Saturday night here, you get customers and some young boys start singing my name out and they are pleased to see me.
‘When I’m not in, they (the customers) are asking where I am. If I’ve been out, I get people asking why I’m not working tonight.’
Three generations of the Richards family have worked in the Taunton KFC, including Pauline’s daughter and grandson.
But Pauline, latterly based at the branch in East Street, said her daughter left before long because “it wasn’t her cup of tea.”
Pauline’s youngest colleague was just 17 years old, and she said she gets on well with youngsters, especially young men who she says often lean over the counter to give her a kiss on the cheek.
She also didn’t have to pay for a drink in the local pub for two years.
‘A lot of people on a night out come in looking for me. I go to a pub down the road and I see them down there. When I walk in the door, they get up from their seat like I am the Queen of Sheba,’ she previously joked.
A KFC spokesperson previously said Pauline was ‘an important role model in her local community and created a legacy the Colonel would be proud of’.
Locals are hoping to set up a memorial to her, with one man suggesting a bench in her honour.
‘Perhaps somewhere in Vivary Park, in a sunny spot as she brought a ray of sunshine to us that met her in KFC over the years & made us all smile with her customer service banter,’ they wrote.
Kathryn York, Chief People Officer at KFC, previously said: ‘Pauline is a truly incredible team member who has brought buckets of enthusiasm, dedication, and heart to our restaurants for nearly five decades.’
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