Aisle work until I drop, says two-jobs Irene, 89
GREAT-GRANDMOTHER Irene Grice is still working at nearly 90 – at two jobs.
And the supermarket worker and cleaner, who has overcome a host of health problems, including cancer, has no plans to slow down.
Irene, who has her big birthday in February, has had her fair share of setbacks.
She battled ovarian cancer 26 years ago and has had a broken hip and skin cancer during the past 12 months.
But now Irene, of Solihull, West Midlands, is back on her feet after the all-clear from doctors, cheering up her customers at the Morrisons supermarket bakery in her home town four mornings a week.
She said: “I’ve always worked. I’ve always been with people and I’ve always had more than enough to do.
“I can’t sit in a chair, I like to be doing something.
“The only time I had time off was when I took three months after having my son David, and when I had ovarian cancer.
“I didn’t retire at 60 because when I started work 74 years ago I didn’t earn enough to pay into a pension.
“My weekly wage was one pound, two shillings and sixpence.
“My husband, who was in the Army during the Second World War, had been ill for a long time.
“I needed the money. I didn’t go to the Government for any handouts and never have since.
“The help of God and sheer determination and willpower has kept me going.”
Irene, one of 10 children, grew up in extreme poverty in Birmingham’s Acocks Green district and said: “If you didn’t work, you didn’t eat. No benefits in those days.” She married Horace, her brother’s best friend, in 1949. He died in 1993.
Amazingly, hard-working Irene still has time for hobbies such as gardening and decorating. For the last 35 years, she has raised funds for the Marie Curie Great Daffodil Appeal.
David, 62, who has recently retired, can hardly keep up with his powerhouse pensioner mother.
He said: “While she was unable to work, she was going up the wall. She was very depressed.
“She’s a very strong-willed lady. I love her to bits but she can be a handful. She’s not a grandmother knitting, she has to be on the go.
“People ask, ‘Why do you let your mother do two jobs and I say, ‘If you can stop her, then the best of luck’.”