Ruth Brock of Clio celebrated her 100th birthday at Elam Baptist Church in Elamville Sunday afternoon.

Although Clio claims “Miss Ruth” as it own centenarian, people from a wide radius of the Barbour County town know and love her.

Brock was the nurse for the late Dr. Stroud Jackson for decades. She was a central figure in the health care of thousands of people of all ages for all those years.

Brock has maintained her own health for 100 years and counting. Her advice for a long, health life is rather simple, “no smoking, no drinking, no drugs and not staying out late.”

“Miss Ruth” was dressed “fit to kill” for her birthday celebration. She greeted each person who came to wish her well and took time to share a memory or two with them.

“I’ve got a lot of wonderful memories of a lot of wonderful people,” Brock said. “Today makes me very happy.”

Brock’s daughters, Annie Lloyd Pittman and Roberta Martin, and son, Jeter Brock, shared the joy of the day with her as did her sisters, Lena Kate Harden and Bernice Key and brother, Coy Danner and 200 or more other family members and friends. Each person there had a “Ruth” story to tell.

Ann Bowden gave testament to Brock’s character and strength.

“Back during World War II, Ruth left home for Panama City to do her part in the war effort,” Bowden said. “She worked as a welder. ‘Ruth the Riveter,’ I guess she was.”

Brock became the head of the household when her husband died just a few months before their last daughter was born.

“Ruth’s husband was working on a bridge and a nail punctured his head,” Bowden said. “Back then, there was no penicillin and he died from infection from the wound. Ruth was and is a strong woman.”

Jeter Brock remembers his mother as, not only smart, but also wise.

“Mama could find a way to do anything,” he said. “We usually had biscuits for breakfast but one morning, for some reason, she told me to just get a box of cereal out of the cabinet. I reached up and got the box and it was full of holes. I asked Mama how come all the holes in the box. She said she couldn’t reach the box way up on the shelf so she would get the long turning fork and stab the box and bring it down on the fork.”

When Brock fell and broke her hip, her son said she couldn’t reach the telephone on the kitchen table so she grabbed the tablecloth and pulled it until the phone fell on the floor so she could crawl to it.

Ruth’s brother, Coy Danner, remembered when she was learning to drive. He told her to hit the brake and she hit the accelerator and they crashed through the fence gate and roared out into the wild blue yonder.

When Brock worked for Dr. Jackson, the office would stay open until 9 or 10 p.m.

“All of us young people would go to the picture show on Friday night and the show wouldn’t get over until around 10 o’clock,” said Lomax Robinette. “Miss Ruth would just be leaving the doctor’s office. So, she would load all of us up in her ol’ Studebaker and drop us off at home, one at a time.”

Evelyn Danner, Brock’s sister-in-law, said back during the big snow of 1973 or ’76, her daughter, Carol Barr, was at her house with her son, Keith.

“Keith had been sick and was taking medicine and all of a sudden he couldn’t breathe,” Evelyn said. “We didn’t know what to do except call Ruth. She told us to hold him out the door in the cold and maybe he could catch his breath.”

Out of concern for the young child, Danner said Brock walked nearly a half a mile in the cold and snow to see about the little boy.

“She lost her shoes in the snow but she kept coming, barefooted,” Danner said.