On Thursday, the City of Fresno thanked him for his hard work and dedication.
Dennis has been a fixture in Downtown Fresno for more than six decades, greeting and helping customers at Pep Boys. On Thursday, he was honored for touching the lives of so many people in the Valley.
"I feel good about it. I was shocked myself when they said it," Dennis said.
Council Member Sal Quintero presented Harold with the honor. In fact, he remembers seeing Harold at the Pep Boys store when he himself was a boy in the 1950s.
"Just a warm friendly person and it's says a lot for someone that's contributed that much for 64 years. I consider him to be one of our local treasures," Quintero said.
Harold's general manager, who has also known him since he was boy, says not a day goes by that someone doesn't ask for Harold at the store.
"He's always uplifting. He's never had a bad day. In the 20-something years he's worked for me, he called in sick once," Elmer Kliewer, Harold's supervisor, said.
Harold's friends and family say Harold is no ordinary man but someone with an extraordinary zeal for life.
"A lot of people always ask me if I know how important my father is and I say 'yes'. He's always been my best friend since the beginning of life and I just try to be half the person that he is," Harold Dennis, Jr. said.
Now in his 80s Dennis still works at the store, but has cut back to working one day a week. Over the years he has seen people come and go, but he always leave them with advice about the value of hard work.
"If a task is once begun, never leave it until it's done. Be the laborer, great or small. Do it well or not at all," Dennis said.
Words of wisdom from a Fresno legend. Harold plans to be back at work on Friday.
