June 2007

Spotlight on Staff: Marie Walker

By Rachel Muir

Marie Walker loves cleaning up after her “children.” A 75-year-old great-grandmother, Walker has been on the GW housekeeping staff since 1985 with a near perfect attendance record. She now spends her days working in Lafayette Hall and catching up with her surrogate children—the 160 undergraduate students who live in the residence hall.

Q: What is a typical work day for you?

A: I take two buses to get to work and usually get here about 6:30 a.m. My shift starts at 7:30 a.m. I pick up trash and clean up public areas of the building. Around 9:30 a.m. I start cleaning the students’ rooms. Sometimes I have to wake a few of them up, and they thank me for making sure they don’t miss class! I clean all the rooms from the first to the fourth floor. I work until 4:30 p.m.

Q: How messy are the students?

A: They’re not bad at all! I know all of the students who live in Lafayette, and I love them. They are like my family. They just graduated, and I’m going to miss them so much! They like to tease me, and I like to tease them. I call them my children, and a lot of them call me mom or grandma.

Q: What do you do outside of work?

A: I do missionary work with my church, Greater Victory in Northeast D.C. I love caring for people. I comb their hair, help them eat—whatever they need.

I have a son, five grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren, and I like to spend time with them whenever I can.

Q: How about vacation?

A: My family and I went on a cruise last year to Bermuda, and I can’t wait to go cruising again!

Q: Where is your hometown, and what brought you to D.C.?

A: I’m from Rocky Mount, N.C.

A friend of mine was coming to D.C. 40 years ago, and I decided to come along and see if I liked it. I guess I did since I’m still here!

Q: Which restaurants do you like?

A: I like most anything, especially somewhere all-you-can-eat! I also love Popeye’s.

Q: Will you ever retire?

A: I will, maybe soon, but I don’t want to leave the students. If I do retire, I will spend my time doing my missionary work. I don’t want to get lazy!

Q: Do you have a favorite season?

A: I love them all! The heat doesn’t bother me, and I just bundle up in the winter.

Send feedback to: bygeorge@gwu.edu