No one could have guessed that Miss Bessie Kate Peacock Wood was Pike County’s newest centenarian. Everyone agreed that she must be the youngest centenarian in the country.

Buth when friends and family joined Miss Bessie Kate at Troy Health and Rehab on Wednesday to celebrate her birthday, she answered questions with a smile and the humor that has kept her young for 100 years.

When asked which of her three children was the most mischievous growing up, she laughed and pointed to one, then the other and the other. When asked which is child is her favorite she said laughing, “That’s not fair.”

As to her secret for a long, happy life, Wood answered just as quickly, “Trust in the Lord. He will see you through.”

One of her greatest joys was raising her family, three boys and three girls. And, seeing all the changes in the world over the years has been “interesting.”

She laughingly said she didn’t just know about outhouses, she has visited them. Her life span goes from the mule and wagon days to jet planes and she “loves to fly.”

She remembers the first electric lights in her home, the first radio and television. She knows to how to cook on a wood stove and in a microwave oven. Her life has spanned wars that were fought with bayonets and those fought with missiles. Her life had been filled with amazing and wondrous things.

But none more wondrous than the flowers that she grew at her home and the roses she received on her 100th birthday.

“I love flowers. I do,” Miss Bessie Kate said with a bright smile.

Her son, Ray Peacock, said his mother always enjoyed working with flowers and had a green thumb.

Miss Bessie Kate is a native of Dozier in Crenshaw County. She moved to Pike County when she was two years old and has never wanted to live anywhere else.

For many years, Miss Bessie Kate was a part of the retail business community in downtown Troy. She worked at the dime store and at several clothing stores including the Diana Shop.

Arlene Davis said her mother has been a blessing in her life and she and her brothers are blessed to have her in their lives.

She thanked all of those who made Miss Bessie Kate’s 100th birthday a joyous occasion.