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Lois Giles, 92, rises at 3:45 each morning to arrive on time for her 5 a.m. front desk shift at the north entrance of Memorial Hospital Central. She’ll stay 10 hours – not bad for someone who isn’t technically working.

Dressed in the recognizable blue top and white pants worn by Memorial volunteers, she greets visitors and employees as they come into the hospital from the parking garage. In the 24 years she has volunteered, Lois has logged over 38,000 hours, more than any volunteer.

“Hi, trouble,’’ employees say as they pass the front desk at the north entrance. Lois grins, and her green eyes dance. She delights in the camaraderie she has built in more than two decades helping Memorial. “I like the atmosphere and the people who work here,’’ she said. “I’m a person who doesn’t sleep much, so I like to get up and get going. Otherwise, I’d have to wait until 8 to come to work.” “She’s been around for a long time,’’ said Bonnie Nixon, manager of volunteer services.

Lois’s first job at Memorial was delivering books and magazines to patients, and she has worked in the business office, on patient floors and in the emergency room. She’s been at the front desk for several years. “I like to say good morning to people, I don’t like to see the employees just walk by.’’

Lois had a humble upbringing. She married Howard Giles, a Navy man who served in World War II and the Korean War. Early in their 66-year marriage, the couple purchased a creamery in East Haddam, Conn., a building they would eventually convert to their home.

While Howard was away with the Navy, Lois would go to the edge of their property to pump water from a well, haul it upstairs, and heat it on an oil stove for baths, cooking and cleaning. There was no running water in the house and no toilets. Lois washed diapers and hung them to dry in the cold New England winter for her four children.

Lois and Howard moved to Colorado Springs in 1985. Soon after, both she and Howard, who died five years ago, started volunteering at Memorial.

Occasionally, Lois’s fellow volunteers tease her about working so much. “I lost my husband five years ago and I had to do something, so I stayed on and I asked for more hours. People say, ‘You’d better go home, but you’ll lose some hours.’ ’’ Giles tells them: “I’m not here for the hours, I’m here to help.’’