99-year-old beautician is finally ready to retire after 73 years

Hair stylist tools.
(Image credit: iStock)

After 73 years of perms, haircuts, and updos, Callie Terrell of Memphis, Tennessee, is ready to put her scissors and brush down for good.

Terrell will turn 100 on Nov. 26, and she has set that as her retirement date. "I work because this is what I've enjoyed doing all my life," she told WREG. "From a little girl I always loved messing with my sisters' hair." Terrell was issued her first cosmetology license on Jan. 30, 1945, and she once owned her own busy salon; now, she rents a space and only sees longtime customers, including her daughter, Inez.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.