Walter Orthmann

Walter Orthmann was a Brazilian centenarian who held the Guinness World Record for the longest career at a single company.
He began working for the textile company ReneauxView in Brusque, Santa Catarina as a shipping assistant in 1938 and continued to work for the company until at least 2022.

Background

Born on 19 April 1922, Orthmann was of German descent and was born in a Brazilian town with a large German population. He was described as an excellent student, but dropped out of school to provide financial assistance to his family. On 17 January 1938, he was hired as a packing assistant at the age of 15. In 2020, in an interview with NSC TV, Orthmann said that he remembered the first calculator he used, a few years after he was hired. On 2 May 2018, he was received by Brazilian President Michel Temer, at the Palácio do Planalto. On 14 August 2018, he was honored in Brasília during a ceremony at the Superior Labor Court and received the Order of Merit for Labor Justice. Orthmann died of natural causes at home on 2 August 2024, at the age of 102.