When drinks flowed at the Maplewood Tavern outside of Alpena, you could almost guarantee that Clarise Grzenkowicz was the one making it happen.
Ten years ago, the then-92-year old Grzenkowicz was named the world’s longest serving bartender by the Guiness Book of World Records.
We learned recently that Clarise died June 8, less than a week after her 102nd birthday.
WCMU spoke to her in 2011, the same year she was certified as having the longest ever career as a bartender, having tended bar for 71 years straight at that time.
In a 2017 interview with Destination Michigan, Grzenkowicz said she was lucky to have been able to hold her position for so long.
“I never smoked, and I’m not a big drinker,” Grzenkowicz said. “Now whether that helped any or not, I don’t know. You got to think how lucky you’ve been that you’ve been here this long and you’ve been able to do it.”
Today we lift a glass to Clarise. In the end, she tended bar until she was 100 years old.
Her funeral is planned for Saturday.