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Jane Carlisle is celebrating 100 years and, as of yet, she has not flown on an airplane.

That’s just not of interest to her. But, if the occasion should present itself, she will walk happily though the boarding gate.

“Flying is not anything I’ve ever wanted to do,” Mrs. Carlisle said. “There’s too much to do and see with my feet on the ground.”

As for the celebration of her 100th birthday, it was a special time with family and friends but Mrs. Carlisle said it was not a milestone event that she had ever given any thought.

“It just happened,” she said with a smile.

Jane Carlisle is originally from Montgomery where her family owned and operated Belmont Dairy on Bell Road.

“But I didn’t milk any cows,” she said, laughing.

Growing up, life was rather simple and Mrs. Carlisle was privileged to experience the coming of electricity and other modern conveniences including indoor plumbing.

“We did have a car but the greatest invention to me was electricity,” Mrs. Carlisle said. “I would not want to do without it.”

When she was 20 years old, she married Joe Carlisle who was soon wanted by Uncle Sam.

“Joe was drafted in the Army and sent to Fort Knox so I stayed close by family,” Mrs. Carlisle said. “Times were not easy. Food – meat, milk, cheese and eggs, were rationed. People were concerned about their loved ones in the service. Joe and I wrote letters and sometimes I would get a telegram. We were all uneasy about the future.”

Joe Carlisle drove a tank and his wife waited patiently for him to come home. However, it was not until 1944, two years after he was called to duty that he came home.

“When I saw him, he looked so good to me,” Mrs. Carlisle said, with a smile.

In time, Joe Carlisle left the dairy business and came to Pike County with his family to farm cattle and chickens. Mrs. Carlisle went to work as bookkeeper with the Pike County Board of Education. She worked for superintendents, Harold Collins, James Baker, Don Walker and John Key and retired after 15 years of service to the county schools.

Jane Carlisle and her husband enjoyed traveling and traveled from California to Cape Cod and throughout the Northwest. Wisconsin was a favorite place to visit because family was there. They went on several cruises and Mrs. Carlisle relishes in the memories of the times they shared together.

Since the death of her husband, she has remained happy at home in rural Pike County. She enjoys her children, Gilbert Carlisle and Dinah Kelsey and their families and her other family members and friends.

“I’m happy,” Mrs. Carlisle said. “I’m happy to be one hundred years old because I have had those years to enjoy all the blessings of life. I am blessed.”