Michelle Slafkosky, the manager of volunteerism at St. Agnes Hospital, compared Mary Murphy to the Energizer Bunny and for good reason.
Murphy, 91, has kept going and going and going since February 1989, logging 5,819 volunteer hours at the Caton Avenue hospital, a number equal to more than 2.75 years of full-time work without vacation.
That work was not of the behind-the-desk variety, either.
"She wanted to be moving stretchers and cleaning stretchers instead of sitting down and (working on) all the charts," Slafkosky said. "What made her really amazing was when she would come in to sign out. She would say, 'Well, I'm off to wherever.' "
"Wherever" was most often to fulfill another a commitment to volunteer in the community.
When she wasn't going to help out at the hospital's hospice center, the mother of three logged numerous hours at Ascension Catholic Church as a Eucharistic minister, visiting the sick, setting up for various church activities or cleaning.
Those thousands of hours are part of the equation that earned the Wynnewood resident induction into the Maryland Senior Citizens Hall of Fame, an honor only about 700 others have received since 1986.
"We're looking for outstanding volunteerism not just only in one place but many," said Parker Koons, president of the 25-year-old organization.
Murphy is one of 38 state residents from more than a dozen counties who will receive a certificate, pin and book containing a write-up of each person in this year's hall of fame class.
The induction ceremony was Oct. 20 at Michael's Eighth Avenue in Glen Burnie, where the event has been held for about 15 years, Koons said.
Murphy, who retired as a nurse at St. Agnes Hospital after 28 years in the 1950s, said she appreciated the award, but was a little uncomfortable with the recognition.
"I feel embarrassed with all this notoriety," she said. "I feel that there may be other people more deserving, but they say not."
Jacqueline Harle, like Murphy a member of Seniors of Ascension Parish volunteer group at the Halethorpe Catholic church, said another member of SOAP approached her about nominating Murphy for the hall of fame.
"Mary is an exceptional person. She volunteers for everything," said Arbutus resident Harle, 68. "I only hope and pray that if I get to be (Murphy's age) that I'm going to be able to do what she's capable of doing."
The only reason Murphy has slowed recently is an accident at the hospital in May that left her with a broken hip. She now uses a cane to walk.
She said she only recently has been able to drive around town again.
"This is killing me staying in," said Murphy, who noted the pain wasn't that bad. "There's so much need.
"It's hard to get people involved in stuff nowadays. They're so busy."
That desire to help others has motivated the western Maryland native for most of her life as a volunteer and as a professional before that.
"She doesn't like anybody to praise her," Harle said. "She thinks, 'What I do is what I should do. I shouldn't get any recognition.'"
Murphy, who resigned from the hospital about two weeks ago, said she will likely return to volunteering at her church, just on a more abbreviated schedule.
"I hope to do more later on," she said. "If you commit yourself, you got to follow through with it and do it.
"I think it's good for you when you get elderly to be involved with stuff and stay active."