Morganton woman celebrates 105th birthday

Ruby Clodfelter was all smiles Monday afternoon as friends and family gathered to help her celebrate her 105th birthday at Grace Ridge, where she lives.
Clodfelter wore a handmade, aqua blue birthday suit to her party and received compliments from her guests on how pretty she looked. Clodfelter made the suit herself for her 100th birthday, she said.
Party throwers decorated the tables with pink balloons and chocolate favors wrapped with July 26, 1905, Clodfelter’s birthday.
“I never expected to live this long,” the centenarian plus five told her guests.
Adorning the large sheet-cake was a picture of Clodfelter from 1928.
“It was made the Christmas before my husband and I got married,” she described. “It was his Christmas present.”
Clodfelter has aged gracefully and doesn’t look anywhere close to being 105 years old.
She remains active and has a sharp mind.
Her nephew Don McCall attended the birthday party. While hugging his aunt he asked, “Did you buy that at Macy’s or Bloomingdale’s?”
She smiled back at him and said “Don’t you remember it from five years ago?“
“She’s going strong,” McCall said. “She made curtains last weekend for the lady who does her housekeeping.”
Clodfelter attributes her longevity to genetics.
“I really don’t know, but I think it’s partly genes.”
Clodfelter’s sister (McCall’s mother) died at 100 and her grandparents lived into their 90s.
“It feels great,” she said of being 105. “You wouldn’t believe the things that I have seen change. It’s a whole different world.”
Born in McDowell County, Clodfelter received her teaching certificate, but after teaching one year decided to do something different.
“I went back to college and studied business, shorthand and typing,” she said.
Clodfelter retired from Hanes in Winston-Salem after 33 years in the workforce.
She lived in Winston with her husband from 1925 until his death in 1971. She never remarried or had children and is the last of seven children in her family. She has three nieces and three nephews.
Clodfelter said she moved to Morganton five different times.
“The sixth time I stayed and moved into Grace Ridge on Valentine’s Day in 2001,” she said.
She found friends quickly including Mildred Plaster who did nurses training in Winston-Salem.
“I felt like we have something in common,” Plaster said.
Pat Mahorne shares the same birthday with Clodfelter, though Clodfelter is “a few years older” and they came from the same town, too.
Some residents describe Clodfelter as Grace Ridge’s Beauty Queen.
Evelyn Beaver, director of resident services at Grace Ridge, said, “She’s very active. An amazing little lady.”
Clodfelter is a cancer survivor, too, and other than a couple stents in 1998 and a broken hip four years ago, she’s healthy.
She only quit driving recently, Beaver said.
“At 101 she went in to get her driver’s license and didn’t have any problems getting them,” she said.
“My license doesn’t expire until 2011,” Clodfelter said. She said the license examiner was dismayed when she learned of Clodfelter’s birthday.
“I hadn’t planned to get them that day, and I had not studied the signs,” she said. “I have been able to drive anywhere I had to go or wanted to go.”
These days she’s leaving the driving to her favorite NASCAR driver, Tony Stewart. She might be his oldest fan. Stewart sent her a package of racing goodies when she broke her hip. She names off his wins proudly as if he’s a favored grandchild. “He came in fifth (Sunday) at the Brickyard,” she said.
“I enjoy racing. It’s a pastime,” Clodfelter continued.
She also likes to sew and do crossword puzzles.
Her friend Mildred Hallyburton attached a small match-box racing car to her birthday card, while Clodfelter told how Henry Liles makes her birthday cards every year and Fred Rusmisell eats supper with her every night. “She’s a special person,” he said.
Sarah Bell, who lives across the hall from the birthday girl, said, “It is a pleasure to see her every day.”
Bell joked with Clodfelter about her 100th birthday suit, “Most of us don’t have one of them.”
Brenda Yost, administrator and executive director of Grace Ridge, serenaded Clodfelter on piano with her favorite song “Blest Be the Tie that Binds.”
Yost later asked Clodfelter her secret to long life.
“Junk food,” was her answer.
Grace Ridge presented Clodfelter with her favorite treats: a box of Russell Stover chocolates and a coupon for ham biscuits.
She received a White House birthday letter from President Barack Obama and Morganton Mayor Mel Cohen officially named the day Ruby Clodfelter Day and presented her Monday with the official proclamation.