Grave digger Gerald Bickerley is finally putting down his shovel after almost 20 years' service at Headington Cemetery, Oxford.
Mr Bickerley, 65, says he has enjoyed the job but is now looking forward to working in his garden during his retirement.
City council area parks manager Jason Hedley said: "It is estimated that Gerald has buried more than 3,500 people in Headington cemetery during his time as a grave digger."
Father-of-two Mr Bickerley, of Queens Avenue, Kidlington, said he had made friends among people who had lost family members over the years. "I enjoy meeting the public," he said.
On the former landscape gardener's last day, his colleagues took him for a celebratory drink at the Black Boy Pub in Headington.
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