Joanne Moran, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and nurse, has never stopped helping others.

At 82, the University Place resident has plans to help people for as long as she can.

"That's my enjoyment," Moran said while sitting in her small office room while Gretta, her 4-year-old dark brown Dotsun, gnawed on a bone. It's just her and the dog.

Although retired, Moran's nursing roots remains alive and well. Today, she takes care of two people, one living in Dupont and the other in University Place. This past week, she took local resident and friend Pat Richmond to her bone and density test in Tacoma.

Moran will probably never stop aiding others. Why? She's been doing it her entire life.

"My volunteering is taking care of people," she said. In a personal memento, she recently wrote recently that taking care of her mother before she died was the most rewarding experience.

"I miss my mom every day," writes Moran in her small booklet.

Moran has made the most of life even in the latter part of her years. She's never stopped taking wild adventures. Well into her 60s, she went on safaris, hitch-hiked to the Arctic Circle and stayed at youth hostels in Australia.

"I love adventure," she said. "I wasn't afraid of anything."

And chances are, she still isn't afraid. More of a homebody now, she enjoys pruning her bushes and apple tree in her backyard with Gretta in tow. She still finds time to get out from time to time.

Moran started a tradition several years ago where she takes homemade pies or cakes to the VA Hospital in Lakewood during the summer.

Cream, pecan pies, rum or apple cake - she's built up quite the tasting audience at 2 p.m. on Tuesdays.

"They stand in line for my pies," she said with a smile.

One of her biggest accomplishments in literature was an autobiography titled The Popcorn Kid. It was published in 2000.

The book focuses on her childhood growing up during the Great Depression and how she started selling popcorn when she was in the first grade to help her family including her four siblings stay financially afloat.

"Things were pretty tight in those days," she said. "The meaning of the book was no matter how bad things get, you can make them work."

With the help of her mentor Bennedict June at the age of 18, she attended nursing school at St. James Mercy in upstate Hornell, N.Y., the same city she grew up and went to high school in.

Three years later, she graduated from nursing school in 1951 and entered the Air Force, serving 20 years from 1953-73. She was a nurse in Japan, at Madigan and the VA.

Along the way, she became a registered Masseuse, aesthetician and even hypnotist. Her hobbies include writing, pottery, stain glass sculpting and, of course, baking.

But in the end, it's her commitment to nursing that makes her who she is today.

The quote she still lives by is, "I'm not rich but I can give time and service to others. That's what I do best."