Lorene Lindsey doesn’t let anything slow her down.

  The former mayor of Locust Grove is known as someone who gets things done. As she prepares to celebrate her 98th birthday this month, Lindsey said she continues to devote herself fully to everything she does.

  “I came from very humble beginnings, and then had the opportunity to participate in anything other than existing,” she said. “I just feel like if there’s something that I want to be in, I want to be in it 110 percent. I’ve got to give it all.”

  Lindsey was born in Porterdale on September 27, 1922. Her father, a millworker, performed seasonal work as a painter. Lindsey’s mother also worked at the mill, then at a bakery until her retirement.

  Lindsey said although her upbringing was not a life of luxury, she always had what she needed.

  “We were dirt poor, but I never went to bed hungry,” said Lindsey. “I never went to bed without a roof over my head. We lived, but it wasn’t extravagant.”

  Lindsey said she went to school in Atlanta, at a time when students in grades 7-9 were separated by gender and career interests.

  “You had to decide what kind of career you wanted at that time. I knew that I couldn’t ever go to college, because I just knew I couldn’t afford it. My goal was to go out and get a job. Back then, women mostly went for clerical work, secretarial work. I went for secretarial. We rode the streetcar from downtown Atlanta all the way to West End every day.”

  In her younger years, Lindsey was a woman of many talents. She was a champion jitterbugger as a teenager, and later a licensed beautician, drove race cars and model.

  The proudest moment of Lindsey’s life came in 1942, when she was the first person in her family to graduate high school. Soon afterward, she entered the workforce during World War II.

  “I graduated from high school and went right into work for the federal government,” said Lindsey. “I started off as a war bond clerk, at $1,440 a year. My first paycheck was $42.50, for two weeks. I worked for 36 years, and I’ve always told people, I don’t think there was ever a day that I regretted going to work,” said Lindsey. “I looked forward to going to work. I looked forward to not only doing what was required; I always had that goal of, ‘If you can’t do it and do it right, you don’t need to be doing it.’

  Reflecting on the 100th anniversary of women’s right to vote, Lindsey recalled the first time she went to the polls, in 1948, when she lived in Decatur. She conceded that, at the time, politics was not as much a part of her life as it would become later.

  “I didn’t really follow politics until I married and moved here,” she said. “Politics didn’t mean a thing to me. I only voted for what Jake did.”

  While Lindsey lived in Atlanta, she met C.J. “Jake” Lindsey on a blind date. .”When I met Jake on a blind date, I thought, ‘he’s the boringest thing I’ve ever seen,” she said. “I had just come back from a race in Daytona. He rushed me ‘til he caught me.”

  The two married on Father’s Day, 1955. She worked for the government for 36 years, and was later transferred to Fort Gillem, which was the Atlanta Army Depot at that time.

  “On Monday, we started building this house,” continued Lorene Lindsey from the living room of her home on Ga. Highway 42. “We dated 18 months, and in the meantime, we drew up the plans.”

  Lindsey has lived for 65 years in the house she and Jake built together. She said Locust Grove has endured a significant transformation over the years.

  “From Brown Avenue to the post office was Locust Grove,” she said. “Locust Grove wasn’t but two square miles.”

  The Lindseys owned and operated a supermarket for 39 years, at what is now the French Market and Tavern in Locust Grove.

  Lindsey retired February 22, 1980, as chief of logistics for criminal investigators. Since then, she has immersed herself in volunteer work, both locally and across the state.

  It wasn’t long after that, she said, that seeds were planted for eventual entry into elected office.

  The Lindseys retired in 1980 and spent time traveling all over the United States. Lorene Lindsey said although friends tried to convince her to run for mayor, she initially balked at the idea.

  She said although she had never attended a council meeting before, she made the leap into the council race.

  To Lindsey’s surprise, she won.

  “I said, ‘I’ve never even been to a council meeting,” said Lindsey. “I was the top vote-getter, and I didn’t even try.”

  Lindsey became the first woman elected mayor in Locust Grove – and in Henry County as a whole – in November of 1999. She took office January 1, 2000, and said the city grew from two square miles when she was elected mayor, to 12 square miles when she left office.

  Jake Lindsey passed away in 2002. Lorene Lindsey has remained active, through the years, in numerous community endeavors, food-surplus distribution, energy assistance. She has also been active in issues related to Henry County’s senior residents via the Silver-Haired Legislature. In 2011, she was appointed to the Georgia Council on Aging, on which she continues to serve.

  “We were junior legislators,” said Lindsey. “A lot of the functions that the General Assembly does, came from work that we did. We actually went into committees, we had to go to training every year, and then we’d get our legislators.”

  She also joined the Locust Grove Woman’s Club in 1982, setting the stage for an unexpected accolade.

  “I joined the Woman’s Club, and in six months, they made me president. I didn’t know my head from a hole in the ground.”

  Lindsey is currently the club’s oldest member, having served as treasurer since 1984. She has also been active with the Atlanta Regional Commission, local senior centers, the Boy Scouts of America, the Special Olympics, Noah’s Ark Animal Sanctuary, and Meals on Wheels.

  Lindsey said regardless of what organization she is affiliated with, she strives to be an active participant.

  “Don’t invite me if you don’t expect me to be there,” said Lindsey regarding the motto that has carried her through her volunteer efforts.

  Locust Grove Woman’s Club President Peggy Gau has known Lindsey for more than 60 years. Gau, 73, spoke about the impact Lindsey has had on her life.

  “I’ve known her since I was six years old,” said Gau. “She’s very focused. For her age, she has one of the keenest minds of anybody that you could imagine. I admire that about her, and her ability to focus.”

  Gau added that Lindsey doesn’t deviate from her ethics and core values. That example, she said, has led government leaders across the state to seek out Lindsey’s wisdom.

  “People don’t know what a subtle, quiet movement this person has caused,” said Gau. “There are a lot of people that have run for political offices – from the county to the state levels – that will call her for an opinion, because they all know her values and what she believes in, and they value it.”

  Locust Grove Police Chief Jesse Patton has known Lindsey for about 30 years and said she is “like an Energizer Bunny.” In particular, Patton commended Lindsey for her continual support of the community.

  “She’s the kind of person you could always talk to if you needed to know anything about Locust Grove,” said the chief. “She’s very supportive of any of the recreational sporting events. One of the things I always admired about her, she was always there, whether it be for the seniors or the youth. That’s something you don’t see a lot of times. It’s either one or the other, but with her, it doesn’t matter.”

  Lindsey said she is thankful for the life God has given her, and the opportunities she has had to make a positive impact on others. “I’m blessed,” she said. “God has blessed me in many ways. I thank Him every night for taking care of me, and the many blessings He’s bestowed on me. And if I can make life easier for someone else, I really will try to help that person.”