Iowa woman still making up beds at age 90

CLEAR LAKE, Iowa (AP) - Jean Morris turned 90 years old recently doing what she's done for some 30 years - making beds at the Best Western Holiday Lodge in Clear Lake.

Morris of Clear Lake works three days a week including every other weekend.

"I used to work five (days) but I cut down now," she said.

For this senior citizen, work isn't about the money.

"I need the exercise. I need to get out," she said.

"It is important. I am not ready to sit in a rocking chair. Your muscles get to where they don't move anymore."

When asked how many beds she might have made in the past three decades, she isn't sure, but certainly the number reaches into the thousands.

"I've probably made about 14 already this morning," she quipped.

She started off in the hotel's restaurant moving from waitress to hostess before transferring to housekeeping.

"I like this better. It's something that I can do that doesn't bother me."

Best Western manager Lori Faught organized a potluck lunch for Jean's birthday.

"Jean is just full of dedication. She inspires me. We do bake sales and she's always the one that brings in the most baked goods out of anybody. Any time we ask her to do anything she's always there," Faught said.

"I just hope when I'm her age that I can still do the things that she does because she is an inspiration to all of us."

Morris, a widow, grew up north of Ventura. Two of her four children live in Mason City. The other two live in Davenport.

Her heath is excellent.

"I take a baby aspirin every day and that's it," she said with a sparkle in her eyes.

When asked if she had anything else she wanted to say, Faught chimed in "How about telling how you won't take breaks?"

"When I come to work, I come to work," Morris said.

And how long will she keep working?

"Until Lori tells me to get out of here."