Lily Hutchison was 80-years-old when she got her first tattoo. Now, at almost 94, she has 12 little mementos covering her forearms and ankles, all inked for free at King Cobra Tattoo in downtown State College.

“When they found out how old I was, they didn’t charge me,” Hutchison said. “They probably thought I had better sense.”

Hutchison is a Butler, Pennsylvania native and moved into an apartment at Addison Court, in State College, 17 years ago. One day, she saw a neighbor with a tattoo and decided to get one of her own.

“She would just truck right across the street,” Hutchinson’s niece, Selma, said. “There was no warning ever. All of the sudden we would just see one on her.”

Justin Sellers, the co-owner of King Cobra, still remembers the first time he met her.

“She was eccentric, and we like old people that still like to have a good time,” Sellers said.

Her first tattoo was a hummingbird floating atop a lily — chosen because of her namesake. She has tattooed initials for family members and the logos of the three colleges her grandchildren attended.

“Her doctor told her no more, but she didn’t care,” Selma said. “She kept going.”

Hutchinson is the oldest person Sellers or his brother Tim have ever tattooed. While he said he loves Hutchinson’s spunky personality, tattooing someone of her age does come with challenges.

“I call it tattooing tissue paper,” Sellers said. “It’s totally different and kind of scary.”

Hutchinson had a health scare three years ago and was moved into the Wynwood House, an assisted living facility. Before this, she could be seen strolling around downtown with her walker, which is always decorated and features some sort of stuffed animal.

“Lily is a great shopper. She shopped downtown every day,” Selma said.

Hutchinson racked up credit card bills at all her favorite businesses downtown, including Kitchen Kaboodle and the Corner Room. Each Saturday, she would get flowers from Woodrings Floral Gardens for the Penn State football game.

Even though she’s no longer downtown, she loves to stay busy. In the corner of her room, which is decorated with loads of family pictures and knick-knacks, sits a small TV, which she only uses to watch Penn State and Steeler’s football games. Each day, she walks to the lobby to see what activities are in store, and — during the interview — she could not stop asking about trick-or-treaters who might come by.

“Anything that’s going on, she loves to go to,” Selma said.

As Hutchinson grows older, Selma said her memory has begun to fade. Though Hutchinson said she doesn’t know exactly why she got the tattoos, she consistently remembered the reason behind most of them – her family.

Hutchinson’s most recent tattoo is of the University of Pittsburgh logo, where her granddaughter Alicia is working on a doctorate degree. Alicia originally commented on King Cobra’s Facebook post about Lily, thanking them for “keeping our Nana happily tatted.”

“She’s inspirational for sure,” Sellers said. “I hope to never get lame.”