Lucille Hodgens, seated, with her daughter Delores Howard, and granddaughter Hilary Lanier.

On Nov. 28, 2012, Lucille Stewart Hodgens celebrated her 100th birthday.

Hodgens is a St. Clair native, the daughter of  James Edgar “Bob” Stewart and Sarah “Sallie” Isabel Robertson Stewart of Eden.  Her father was a farmer in Eden and The Stewarts and Robertsons were pioneer settlers in St. Clair County.

Hodgens was the youngest of seven children; brothers, Floyd, Tom and Otto Stewart; and sisters, Maureen Stewart Goodwin, Mittie Stewart Machovec and Lillian Stewart Ling. She married Jasper Alton Hodgens of Shelby County on May 17, 1935 in St. Clair County. Alton was in insurance sales and passed away May 26, 1998.

The couple lived most of their married lives in the Bessemer area where she worked as a hair stylist in the Bessemer and Birmingham area. Their daughter, Delores, was Miss Alabama 1961 and a concert pianist. Ms. Hodgens has one granddaughter, Hilary Lanier.

Hodgens celebrated her birthday with family and friends at the home of her daughter and son-in-law, Delores and Sam Howard. At the celebration, State Representative Paul DeMarco presented Hodgens with a resolution recognizing her contributions to the state, and a family member read a similar resolution from Governor Robert Bentley.

“Why she was just a young single woman when we were growing up and she and Aunt Lillian were our second mothers,” Rose Machovec Hornsby, Hodgens niece said. “And then when Delores was born, we just thought of her as our little sister.  We were so excited. To think of all that she has seen in her 100-year life span is just remarkable and what a credit to her that she is enjoying not only wonderful physical health but also possesses such a sharp intellect, recalling the smallest details of past as well as current events. She has served as a representative of the Stewart family to historians documenting the local citizens because she has such a remarkable memory.”