At the time Cheva Garcia cracked her first head of lettuce at CMC, her wages were 60 cents an hour, salads were served with every dining hall meal, and on Friday nights there were two entrees from which to choose. The college's students, in what was then Claremont Men's College, were particularly fond of Jell-O dessert, and had even requested that the school provide more of the stuff. CMC was barely five years old, and Garcia—with her dark pin curls and movie star smile—was 26. Pacesetters such as Pete Welsh, Bill Arce, and Jack Goddard, as well as trustees Robert J. Lowe '62 and Jack Stark '57, were among the first young men Garcia encountered scooting meal trays across the stainless steel counter in the original Story House. The Craftsman-style, three-story mansion served as a dormitory with kitchen and dining hall facilities for all students, and Garcia and her aproned co-workers stayed there until Collins Dining Hall opened in 1957.

Fifty years later, 76-year-old Garcia is still slicing and dicing for the CMC salad bar and looks just as radiant. "The one thing that's never changed about her is her smile," says longtime acquaintance, Arce. Almost as amazing as her tenure is the likely fact that Garcia never took a sick day, and as yet has no intentions of retiring. "As long as I can still get around and they want me here, I'll stay," Garcia says, smiling.

Earlier this month, Garcia was part of the faculty procession for convocation, and received an official CMC chair on behalf of her golden anniversary. As she presented the chair to Garcia, President Pamela Gann recalled Garcia's astounding family history with the College. Two of Garcia's children worked with their mother in the dining hall during summers, and Garcia's mother had also worked for CMC. One of Garcia's two daughters, Susan Wallace, met and married a former Pitzer administrator (a CMC alum) while working at the neighboring school and going to Chaffey College.

In earlier remarks, Gann called Garcia a "wonderful, smiling face in the community." Dean of Students Torrey Sun says he suspects that "Cheva knows more current students and alums than anyone who is currently working at CMC."

During a shift break one recent morning, Garcia recounted the years that led to her employment at CMC. As she talks, a co-worker stops by to pat her on the arm and say hello. Another friend reveals that Garcia grows the most beautiful orchids she's ever seen. Garcia was raised just a block from the College, the eldest of nine. Her father, a longtime Pomona College gardener, had moved the family to the western side of then-unnamed Claremont Boulevard, so that his children could attend Claremont schools. It was the early 1930s and the emerging population among the area's citrus groves was largely Anglo and Latino. Cheva Garcia's future husband was a childhood friend named Salvador, who ended up mirroring her father's ideals about parenting and education. The late Sal Garcia was a staunch family man who wanted their five children to attend good schools, and was against his wife working if it meant babysitters and evenings away from home. They found an ideal solution at CMC.

Sal had started working at the College in 1950 as a custodian. The couple's home rested a stone's throw from the house Cheva grew up in near El Barrio Park, and within walking distance to campus. A year after Sal's hiring, Garcia arrived at Story House to fill in for an ill employee. When the boss later asked if she wouldn't mind working a couple of hours a day, Garcia stayed on. She and Sal worked morning shifts, which enabled her to be home in the afternoons with their children, and allowed him to operate a gardening business on the side. "It was convenient for me being five minutes from home, and able to raise my children," Garcia said. "To make a long story short, I came here to help and I stayed—forever and ever."

Food Service worker Cheva Garcia has been working at Claremont McKenna College for 50 years. She arrived at CMC in 1951.