Work Keeps this Grandma Smiling

MARION - She stands five-foot-two, has eyes of blue and wears her white hair short and curly just like the 78-year-old grandmother that she is.

She smiles as customers enter the McDonald's fast food restaurant near Walmart on Marion's east edge, even though she'll be cleaning up after them.

She hums to herself as she refills the straw and napkin dispensers, wipes down the pop machine and sweeps the floor

"You can see this is a real high pressure job," laughs Georgia Windenburg as the broom whisks along the floor.

At an age when most people retire, Georgia not only works 11 hours a week here but also 36 hours every two weeks for the hot lunch program at Kennedy High School in Cedar Rapids.

"I don't like not to work," she says. "I love being around people."

It's a rather slow night, unusual for this McDonald's, or Georgia would be out talking to more people. So, instead, she talks to me. She is the type of employee every business would be lucky to have.

"We just love our Georgia," confirms Wendy Schmitz (left), first assistant manager at the McDonald's.

It was her father, Hugh Hutton, a loved, respected and admired man, who inspired Georgia.

"He just set a good example. If you did something, you did it right and you'd never have to go back and do it again."

Hugh Hutton had the Clover Farm grocery in downtown Marion, (now the Maid-Rite) when Georgia was born. She remembers first grade when she and a friend picked apples to eat on the walk to the store.

"Did you get permission?" he asked.

"No," she replied.

"You're stealing."

"When I got home," Georgia says, "I got one swat from the razor strop. It wasn't child abuse. I never did that again."

But, she'll tell you, that's not the biggest lesson he taught her.

"Not to step in his garden. You get in the garden, you work."

In 1951, her father inspired her more when he got throat cancer. At age 51 and told he had a 1 in 100 chance to survive, Hugh closed the store, had surgery, taught himself to talk again and lived to be 88. He opened Hutton's Tropical Fish where Georgia worked before buying it in 1966 to operate it for 22 years.

Upon retirement, Georgia became bored. She worked at Sun Mart grocery for 10 years before retiring again. A few months later she returned to Younkers where she'd worked before the fish store. She'd also worked at Linn-Mar schools hot lunch program, which was a natural for joining the one at Kennedy.

Not one to mince words, Georgia felt a little of her father come out one day when she heard a student in line swear. She threatened to take three boys to the kitchen to wash their mouths out with soap.

"I'm sorry, grandma," one of the boys said.

"They never did that again," Georgia says. "They talk to me all the time now.

"Kids are good today," she adds. "They just need to be disciplined."

In her spare time she likes to gamble (blackjack) and watch TV, but only NFL football and poker tournaments.

"I'm not an Iowa fan, not since they got rid of Tom Davis," she says. "The best man they ever had."

Yes, he reminded her of her father. Or Keith, her husband of 58 years. They have four children, 10 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. So, after each shift at McDonald's, Georgia picks up a couple of sundaes, a caramel one for herself and a chocolate one for Keith. Work has its rewards.

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