Jo Ann Lewis surveys the condition of the girls’ locker room. She shakes her head at the wet towels and forgotten socks littering the floor, then quickly moves to open another door. With only white hair to betray her age, it’s obvious the 70-year-old is used to keeping the pace of someone much younger. She has to. There are bleachers to sweep. Trash to haul from the cafeteria. Halls to mop. And, oh yes, 60-something toilets to clean.

“I like to tell people if it wasn’t for dirt, I wouldn’t have a job,” Lewis said, with a laugh, as her bright eyes crinkled into a smile.

She made it clear, however, that she views her role as custodian of Brookhaven Academy as much more than a job.

“I love to be with these people. It is a job, but I think of it more as a mission. I’m where I’m supposed to be.”

The feeling must be reciprocated, because to most of the student body Lewis is simply “Maw-Maw Jo,” a title earned in part by her ability to pull first-graders’ loose teeth and “holler” at high school athletic events.

“Let’s just say they know where I’m sitting in the bleachers,” she acknowledged.

Lewis’ association with BA extends further than her 18-year tenure, however. Husband Lonnie had his own career as custodian before Lewis came on as his assistant. Daughter Tawana Nettles oversees the school’s cafeteria, and also helped with janitorial duties with her husband, Eric, early in their marriage.

“The kids all loved him for his jokes and old tales.” Lewis recalled, referring to her husband. “One of their favorites was about the time we saw a cooler fall out of the back of an ambulance. Lonnie told them we picked it up, and there was a big, fat toe inside.”

And how did he respond when students wanted to know what happened next?

“Lonnie told them he called a ‘toe’ truck.”

The Lewis family’s popularity at BA was particularly evident when Lonnie died in 2004. Days earlier the headmaster had walked into his hospital room and handed Jo Ann a large brown envelope. It was stuffed with money collected from student body and faculty members, a memory that still makes Lewis emotional.

“We used it to buy flowers for his casket and to have a tombstone made,” she said.

Today, Nettles’ managerial duties mean she’s sometimes in a supervisory position over her mother. Not a problem, according to Lewis. “I enjoy working alongside Tawana. We work well together because I already know what to do.”

Working alongside Lewis isn’t so bad, either, according to fellow employee Tanya Stephens.

“I just hope I can do half of what Jo Ann does when I’m her age. We wouldn’t be able to do what we do (in the cafeteria) if it wasn’t for her,” Stephens said.

Faculty members are especially thankful Lewis has a flexible skill set. As Daisy Arnold and Denise Sbravati explained, “You name it, she does it. From rounding up pencils to share with forgetful students, to feeding the campus cat, Cougar, Jo Ann does the little things that mean so much.”

Being at BA has also enabled Lewis to spend precious time with her grandchildren, Rena’ and Kevin.

“I’ve kept an eye on them, and they’ve never been any trouble.”

She added that the same is true of all the students she’s known through the years. “I’ve never had one child act ugly toward me. That says a lot.”

At a time in her life when most of her peers are enjoying retirement, Lewis is actually busy with two jobs – custodian during school hours and hairdresser in the afternoons. Customers come from as far away as Brandon to her beautician’s chair in the Nola community, and on Fridays she takes her scissors to Silver Cross Nursing Home. Among the 10 residents who await their weekly shampoo and sets is her oldest client. At 101, she makes Lewis feel young.

“I may wear out, but I won’t rust,” Lewis recited jokingly.

Using her lunch hour at school to rest in a spot she calls the “hut” when she’s tired helps.

“My mother made me think I was supposed to like work. Not only that, but it gives me an opportunity to witness to others at the school and when I’m cutting hair. My motto is ‘Joy’ – Jesus first, others second, and yourself last. I believe God uses me, and He has blessed me with great health for that reason,” said Lewis.