After nearly 60 years of sweating over a hot grill at his Forty Niner diner in 'Aiea, Richard Chagami is finally going to hang up his spatula and cleaver.

Come Monday, the 89-year-old co-founder of the eatery will retire. The landmark Forty Niner at the corner of Kamehameha Highway and Honumanu Street will be changing hands after 59 years with Chagami in the kitchen.

"We're all getting old, so we had to quit," said Chagami.

Even as he approaches 90, Chagami continued to work in the diner's kitchen, cutting hamburger meat and making the dashi for his popular saimin. When things get busy, Chagami even returns to the grill.

"I like this job," said Chagami, a man of few words. "The people come see me. That's the good part of this job. My friends come here and they meet."

The restaurant has been in the Chagami family since it opened in 1947, and the surviving family members decided recently to call it quits and put the restaurant up for sale. The family has found a buyer and is working out lease details.

Pat Otsuka-Spencer, Richard Chagami's niece, said it was a tough decision but the owners felt it was time.

"It's not the business. The business is fine," Otsuka-Spencer said. "It's finding reliable workers. People would come in and try it and say it's too hot back there. Young kids would work for a month and next thing they don't show up."

So as the Oct. 30 sale date approaches, many family members have returned to the diner to help out. In the early years, 11 Chagami siblings worked at the diner. This week, three surviving sisters along with Richard Chagami were at the diner to work and reminisce about the old days.

"It's sad, but then we never imagined it was going to be this many years," said Betty Koizumi, 79, Chagami's sister. "It was just day by day and the time went by fast."

"We sure worked long enough, yeah?" added sister Lillian Yamamoto, 81.

Richard Chagami remembered the days when his fishing club would meet at the diner. The men also would play cards and have meetings there.

"They catch the fish and they come here and weigh the fish," he said. "Once a year, New Year's, the fishing club used to have a party here and that was one of the big occasions."

The Forty Niner began as a lunchwagon, which was purchased by Richard Chagami's parents. When Richard and his brother, Henry, returned from serving with the famed 442nd Regimental Combat Team in World War II, the family constructed the diner and transferred the Forty Niner name.

In the beginning, the Forty Niner was a soda fountain, serving ice cream, floats, milk shakes, banana splits and sandwiches. Most of the business came from military personnel.

But as tastes changed, so did the menu. The diner added daily specials and began to serve up "old style" saimin, as well as plate lunches and hamburgers.

With Richard Chagami at the helm, the formula of home-style cooking and friendly service has proven successful over the years. As word spread that the Chagamis were selling the place, customers flocked to the diner.

Kanoelani and Joseph Kalahiki have been eating at the Forty Niner since the 1960s and said they will miss the Chagami family.

"It's the best saimin and hamburger in town. And Richard and Nancy, they have so much aloha. I love these guys. They're wonderful," said Joseph Kalahiki. Nancy Kawamura, the oldest of the Chagami sisters, worked at the diner for years up until her death in 2003.

Kanoelani Kalahiki said there was nothing fancy about the Forty Niner food and she preferred it that way.

"It's so simple. You can't find a place like this any more," she said.

Edward Sanchez, 56, has been a loyal customer for 38 years. "It's a wonderful, kind place and there aren't too many saimin stands like this anymore," the 'Aliamanu resident said.

Otsuka-Spencer said she's heard that the prospective buyer, Wilhelm Cordes, will keep many of the popular menu items. Cordes said he has not signed an agreement with the Chagamis yet, but added he is "strongly leaning" toward keeping the Forty Niner name.

Otsuka-Spencer said she wishes Cordes luck and hopes he can carry on the spirit of her Uncle Richard's diner.

"My uncle has a love for serving the people. It's not that he made lots of money. I can't say that. He made enough to carry on and for him, that was sufficient," Otsuka-Spencer said. "He must have enjoyed it to do it for 59 years. He would love to continue and I think he's at a loss."

Reach Curtis Lum at culum@honoluluadvertiser.com.