Friends celebrate 94-year-old shoeshine man's retirement at Macomb County court

Otis Hopson is beloved fixture at Macomb County Circuit Court, friends will miss him

MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. – Otis Hopson has been a fixture at the Macomb County Circuit Court shining shoes there for years.

But now Otis has reached the ripe old age of 94 and is retiring.

Age has confined him to a wheelchair. His friends at the courthouse organized a retirement party Friday. Otis enjoyed it.

"You see all these smiling faces. I enjoy these smiling faces," Hopson said.

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Macomb County Clerk Carmella Sabaugh organized the retirement party.

"I get choked up. I am choked up and I'll tell you the reason I really do. Otis was here in the good times and the bad times. Anyone could always stop and talk to Otis. We wanted to say Otis, thank you for being here. We want him to come back and he will always be here in spirit," Sabaugh said.

Hopson may be confined to a wheelchair, but he still plays the harmonica and sees his advancing years philosophically.

"I'm getting older. I'm 94, but age ain't nothing but numbers," he said.

He believes a person should be able to work as long as there is breath in their body.  He is still thinking about coming back to shine shoes one day a week.