OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss. (WLOX) – Fast food drive-ins aren’t usually emotional experiences, but they are if you’ve had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Brenda Wilson.

Wilson, a community favorite, began her career at McDonald’s in 2004. Since then, she has been serving burgers with a prayer on the side.

When it was announced on social media that Wilson was leaving McDonald’s, hundreds responded by sharing their special memories of her, with some even stopping by to see her during one of her final shifts.

“One day you prayed for me, it was the day my grandmother died, and my grandmother died two days after my mother died. You prayed for me all the time. My grandmother is the best thing to me since my mother. You don’t even know it,” says one customer.

Ms. Brenda was only 24 years old when she first entered the service industry. She worked as a cook, customer service representative and manager.

At 58, she still hugs the people she calls her “McDonald’s babies.”

“She is the best there is. One of my favorite people,” says a customer who has been visiting Ms. Brenda for eight years.

No matter where she goes or which McDonald’s she is in, Ms. Brenda is a familiar face to many. She says it’s because of her unmistakable smile.

“They send me from Market Street to Highway 90, to Walmart, and in each of those stores, I impact somebody’s life,” Wilson says. “Now when I go to Pascagoula, to Market Street, I’ll think of some people and they’ll remember me. They say that gold, we can’t forget you, with all that gold in your mouth. That’s why I smile so they’ll remember me. That’s that woman, she prayed for me.”

The Deschers say customers aren’t the only ones who will miss Wilson.

“She has touched so many people’s lives. Really. She has touched ours, our children’s lives. She knows our children’s names, our dogs’ names, she just always prays for us in the morning – and not just for us, but for all of our clients. She is just special,” say Gregg and Meredith Descher.

Friday is the last day that Mrs. Brenda will represent the red and yellow national team at the Descher family’s McDonald’s.

She wants the community to know that the next chapter of her life is not far from the drive-thru.

“I’m grateful for every life and every heart I’ve touched,” Wilson says. “I’ll be missed, but you can be sure I’ll be in your hearts. Because every time I pray, I ask God to bless each and every one of these babies. He knows everyone who comes through this drive-thru. He knew they were coming before they knew they were coming.”

You can find her gathering more joy and prayers at Quake’s Ice Creamery.

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