Gisele VanPutten may be the youngest 70-year-old you’ll ever meet.

Perched on a stool after a full day of work surrounded by the smell of laundry detergent and the heat of industrial clothes dryers, the Amherstview woman appears ready to spring-into-action when asked if she has any plans to slow down.

“I’m good to go,” she says with a smile.

A member of the laundry team at Helen Henderson Care Centre for the past 16 years, Gisele is the oldest staff member at the retirement/long-term-care home.

Despite her eligibility, Gisele does not plan to retire anytime soon.

“As long as the good Lord allows me to get-up in the morning, that’s all I ask,” she says.

A firm believer in the power of positive thinking, the friendly cleaner describes her life as full of good fortune.

“I’m a very, very lucky person. I have nothing to complain about.”

Mother of three, Gisele lost her husband to illness approximately six year ago after 45 years of marriage.

“I live for them. They’re the main reason why I keep going,” she says with fondness about her children.

Hired in 1999, Gisele is grateful for the work and time with residents & staff, “I love it. I enjoying doing it (cleaning laundry).”

With nine siblings in her family (and a lifetime of work at a convent and retirement home), Gisele knows how to clean a large volume of clothes daily.

“Be organized,” she says with confidence.

“I’m very particular about my job and I love a challenge. You have to respect the other person’s property.”

“It always comes back,” she says knowingly about the occasional misplaced laundry item. “It won’t go out the door.”

Ready to make her way home by bicycle, Gisele reflects warmly on the work and family she gained when she joined Helen Henderson Care Centre located in the heart of Amherstivew.

“I like the residents here and I like the people I am working with.

“It’s my little world here.”