In 1997, the faculty and staff of the Huffington Center on Aging at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas sent their heartiest congratulations to Mrs. Washington on the occasion of her joining the elite Centenarian Club on August 2nd of that year. We learned about Mrs. Washington reaching this milestone through a valued member of our geriatrics team, Lee H. Willis, M.P.H., RNC, whose husband, Favor D. Willis, Esq., is Mrs. Washington’s nephew. 

The other day, I saw Ms. Willis and asked if Mrs. Washington were still alive. I was saddened to hear that she had died a few years ago. However, this remarkable lady, lived to be 105 years old. It used to be that they were very rare. Now those 105+ persons aren't so rare any more.  The oldest person I've ever been around was a 109-year-old man at a social function at the Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Hospital back in 1996. He was nattily dressed, eating a bag of Fritos and drinking a Dr. Pepper. He told me about how he had been too old for World War One! The likes of that man and Mrs. Washington will be played out over and over again in the future. What will their lives be like? It's up to us to help them have a shot at the very best of times, free of debilitating dementias and full of rich socialization experiences. 

Born in Newton, Texas in 1897,  was the third of eight children. Think about what life was like for a young woman of color in those days, and especially for her parents, Ira and Violet, born in the mid 1870s, just following the Civil War. But Edna persevered, graduating from the public schools of Newton, and on Christmas Eve 1919, Miss Edna Knighton became Mrs. Alis Washington. To this union were born nine children – teachers, nurses, government officials, college professors. Mrs. Washington was widowed at the early age of 51 and never remarried. But her legacy is her children and grandchildren who gathered to honor her long, good life in service to God’s children through the Glover Memorial Baptist Church. Perhaps the esteem in which she is held by her family and friends is best expressed in this scripture from Proverbs (31:28-31) that was in the printed program of her birthday celebration: "Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her. Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excelleth them all. Favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates."

Mrs. Washington still enjoys reading, traveling, keeping up with family and friends, and watching TV, especially baseball. So Mrs. Washington, we hope your favorite team wins the World Series this year. You certainly have won the World Series of life, and we need more, many more people like you to show us the way. There are 76,000 centenarians in the U.S., and we’re interested in learning from you and your fellow "club" members.

In the next century, the number of persons reaching the age of 100 will grow dramatically. If you want to keep up with them, visit our Web site for more Mrs. Washington’s. See this link for a Web site that has monthly updates on the number of older people in the U.S., especially centenarians like Mrs. Washington.

Robert E. Roush, Ed.D., M.P.H., Director, Texas Consortium Geriatrics Education Center

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