Lois Hill shows off an outfit she knitted in 1996. She plans to wear it to her 100th birthday party with friends and family this weekend.

One hundred years is the mark Lois Hill will celebrate this coming weekend. She has seen a great deal of change in that time.

“I was born in the horse-and-buggy days,” she said laughing. “Each step has been progress to me. Cars, television and all that has just made it better.”

Time may mark how long Hill has been here — but don’t think she is slowing down any time soon.

“She never misses church,” says Hill’s neighbor, Ann Leopard. “She loves to go.”

Hill will celebrate her birthday with a wealth of church family, three nieces and countless friends this weekend.

“I go out to get my mail and paper everyday,” adds Hill. “And when I am out I just use a walking cane.”

Hill began her life in Florida and moved to Selocum, Ala., when she was only 5 years old. Her father ran a turpentine business and helped in collecting tree resin for cooking the barrels.

“I started school one block from my house and that’s where I finished up in 1930,” she said. “I was a first-team basketball player all four years. I wore a size three tennis shoe, weighed about 90 pounds and man could I move. I was creaking around then!”

Hill said she has enjoyed a long and fun-filled life.

“My husband never wanted me to work. He said that was his part and I could do the rest. He would hand me his check and ask for the money he wanted each week. I always kept him out a little extra from the bank and he’d come back before the week was over asking if I had any extra. He’d not asked for enough,” she laughed. “I took care of the house, our son and our finances. Every two years he bought me a new car. We had a good life. He hunted and fished when he wasn’t working and he’d send me on trips whenever I wanted to go because I never complained.”

Hill once drove from Alabama to San Francisco on one of those trips.

“My sister-in-law and daughter-in-law came along to take my son back to his Navy ship. We stopped along the way and looked at anything we wanted to see,” she said. “I had to drive the whole way. I tried to let my sister-in-law drive one time but I didn’t like her driving down the middle of the road so I just took it back over.”

She continued driving until she was 96 years old.  

Hill said happiness is her secret to living 100 years. She doesn’t follow any specific wellness plan or diet. She eats what she likes.

“I don’t eat fruit at all. No sir, I don’t like it. I will fill up on cornbread and soup though. I eat a honeybun and coffee for breakfast each morning.”

Her long-time neighbor, Leopard, does much of her shopping for her.

“She has to have her honeybuns, Red Diamond tea and coffee,” she laughs. “Those things we don’t let her run out of!”

Leopard looks after Mrs. Hill and they share a lot of laughter.

“She’s my guardian angel,” Hill says. “I just let her take care of things and it all goes just fine.”

Though times may change, Hill says she hasn’t changed much over the past century.

“I never did care for television or radio shows,” she said. “I love books and puzzles and needlework.”

These hobbies have lasted throughout the years.

“She’s wearing a suit she knitted in 1996 to her party,” Leopard said getting the suit out to show it off.

“She still reads mysteries and loves her puzzles, though she doesn’t do much of that anymore.”

Hill is quick to say she has read about every Nancy Drew novel she could find, and it is still her favorite series.

When asked what advice she would give young people she has a ready response.

“First off, become a Christian. Then do whatever your heart leads you to do in a Christian way,” she said. “I’ve enjoyed life and never smoked a cigarette or drank any alcohol. But, I have had lots of fun.”

Hill plans to continue the fun.

“I don’t miss the old days at all,” she said. “I just take one day at a time.”