Morjorie Newlin, 87, fitness champ

BACK IN the early '90s, Morjorie Newlin found that she had trouble hoisting a couple of 50-pound bags of cat litter that her local supermarket had on sale.

She was 71 at the time, and she had a disturbing vision of a future in which she would become a helpless old lady and a burden on her family.

So, she did what any elderly widow with children and grandchildren would do: She started pumping iron.

OK, not many elderly widows with kids and grandkids would think of taking up weightlifting, and even fewer would consider stepping out on a stage in a bikini and flexing their muscles for an audience. But Morjorie did, and with spectacular results.

She not only increased her strength and endurance, she overcame a natural shyness to pose half-naked before cheering crowds, and took home dozens of trophies in bodybuilding contests nationwide and in Europe.

Morjorie Augusta Newlin, a retired nurse described by Daily News fitness guru Kimberly Garrison as "Philadelphia's first lady of fitness," died Sunday. She was 87 and lived in Mount Airy.

"She was a shining example of how to live our lives and a wonderful lady who shall never be forgotten," Garrison said.

Morjorie continued to lift weights and win bodybuilding contests into her late 80s. She told her story of inspiration on "The Oprah Winfrey Show", the "Today Show," "The View" and other national and local TV interview shows, and she was written up in the Daily News, Inquirer, City Paper, Essence magazine and Women's World.

Morjorie first began working out at the Germantown Y, and eventually stepped into Rivers Gym and Health Club in Mount Airy in 1991.

Bob Rivers, the owner, was impressed by her determination and saw in her a future bodybuilding champion.

"He began telling me about bodybuilding poses and showing me pictures of the poses he wanted me to do," she told former Inquirer fitness writer Art Carey. "I told him, 'No way I'm going up on stage in a bikini with all those big guys.'"

But Rivers prevailed and in a few months she was, indeed, on a stage in a bikini and dazzling a crowd that was stunned when her age was announced. She won her first masters class contest and continued winning.

"She took the bodybuilding world by storm," said Garrison, a personal trainer and owner of One on One Ultimate Fitness. "She won every competition she ever entered.

"When I was given the opportunity to write for the Daily News, I decided to kick off my column with a story about her.

"She was down to earth and always kept it 'real.' She didn't take supplements or eat a special diet. She just ate wisely and worked out most days of the week. I will surely miss her, but will remain inspired by her life and legacy."

Said Carey, "Morjorie Newlin was a spectacular advertisement for the cardinal rule of fitness: Everybody should be lifting weights.

"In her mid-70s, when many women are bent over with arthritis and osteoporosis, this lively grandmother was wearing a bikini and showing off her toned, shapely figure in bodybuilding contests."

Morjorie was born in Philadelphia to immigrants from Barbados. She attended Girls High for two years before entering Temple University High School. She earned her registered nursing degree from Howard University and received a bachelor's in health-care administration from St. Joseph's College of Maine

At just 5-feet tall, Morjorie's weight always hovered around 99-100 pounds. She never weighed more than 105. When she went to Howard, her mother would send her cod liver oil pills to help her put on weight.

She worked 45 years as a registered nurse, raised four children, who gave her four grandchildren, and when she was in her early 70s, twin great-grandchildren were born.

She married Raymond Newlin, a railroad worker, in 1956. He died in 1990.

"She was very strong and independent," said her daughter, Antonia Citizen. "We always depended on her for guidance."

Morjorie celebrated her 87th birthday last August with a workout at Bally's Total Fitness.

"Know your own body and be prepared to challenge the doctor," she once advised older folk.

"There is no 'how older people should be.' It's an individual thing."

Her goal was never to stay young. "I can't do anything to be young," she said.

"I don't wanna be young. I've been young. I feel good just the way I am."

Marjorie contracted leukemia, but she certainly wasn't the type to give in to an illness. Before she started to weaken last October, she was still working out regularly at the gym.

Besides her daughter, she is survived by a son, Augustus Greenridge; two other daughters, Virginia Lee and Michelle Newlin; four grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

Services: Funeral Mass 10 a.m. tomorrow at Holy Cross Church, 154 E. Mount Airy Ave. Burial will be in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, 1311 Mamaroneck Ave., Suite 310, White Plains, NY 10605. *