Anna DeWald, a resident of the Presbyterian Home at Williamsport, is celebrating a birthday of epic proportions - but she isn't phased.
"I go from one day to the next. I wake up and if I feel like doing something, I do it," DeWald said.
And if taking each moment as it comes and living in the present is the answer to the age-old quest for longevity, DeWald's got the answer.
Born March 25, 1906, DeWald will celebrate her 106th birthday on Sunday.
Rumored to be the oldest person in Lycoming County, DeWald still reads, crochets and does crossword puzzles daily.
She visits the James V. Brown Library's READiscover mobile and reads about a book per week, favoring westerns.
"I read anything interesting. My favorites are Zane Grey and Lorraine Moore. I like the shoot 'em up ones," DeWald said.
Raised in Calver, Campell Township, DeWald is the oldest of five children, which included two brothers, two sisters and one half sister. Her family lived on a farm 20 miles from Williamsport where some of her chores included milking cows and tending to the garden - a hobby that DeWald still enjoys.
"We were always growing and canning food," she said.
She attended Suzie Wheaton's Trade School in Williamsport with her brothers and learned to be a secretary.
She eventually moved to Rochester, N.Y., with her husband, Glen DeWald, who passed away in August 1972.
"We lived there for 43 years, we raised our children there," DeWald said.
She worked as a secretary for a store in Rochester.
"When the stores would close at night, I counted all the money," she said.
DeWald also worked for a lawyer in the Williamsport area as a secretary.
DeWald has four children: three sons, Bill, Bob and Harry, and one daughter, Mary Elizabeth. She also has many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
"That happens when you're 106!" DeWald said.
DeWald has family in the area who still come visit her as well, including her sisters, Martha and Janet.
DeWald has been at the Presbyterian Home at Williamsport since November 2011 after an injury. Before that she lived alone at the Williamsport Manor Apartments.
"Up until then, she was taking care of her own finances, living on her own, everything," said Jackie Engel, administrator at the Presbyterian Home. "I've worked in nursing for a number of years, and I don't think I've ever seen someone of her age that gets around so well."
DeWald spends her days keeping up with her hobbies, and spending time with one of the Presbyterian Home's cats, Chrissy. She still keeps up her gardening, with plants in her room that she takes care of daily. Her room also is filled with a bookshelf with her favorite books.
DeWald shows no signs of slowing down, either.
"It's amazing, she's a spitfire," Engel said of DeWald. "She's involved in the activities here, like the exercise program. She's just so jovial."
