Former Delta flight attendant celebrates 102 birthday

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One of Delta's first flight attendants celebrated a major milestone this week in Acworth, Georgia.

Friends, family and Delta representatives gathered to join in the celebrations of Sybil Peacock Harmon's 102nd birthday.

Harmon was a 24-years-old nursing school graduate in 1940 when Delta hired her for a brand new job at the company: stewardess.

“This was the beginning, really, of people flying,” Harmon said. “On Sundays, whole families would line the fence. When I walked up to the plane in my uniform, kids would say, ‘Look, there she is. There’s the stewardess.’ It was a lot of fun.”

Three years later, Harmon left Delta to join the military. She eventually became a 1st Lieutenant in the 830th Medical Air Evacuation Squadron. After leaving the military, she got married to an Army captain and Delta employee, raised a family, and became a nurse and travel agent.

Harmon's daughter, Peggy, also followed in her pioneering footsteps, working as a Delta flight attendant for 35 years.

Harmon's history is now part of the Delta Flight Museum, and her company brought the museum's cutout display to her party at her home at Celebration Village in Ackworth.

At the party, Harmon was presented with new flight wings and ate part of a cake decorated with a DC-3 plane, the exact plane she worked nearly 80 years ago.

“Sybil is a lively member of our community, and we’re so pleased to have this opportunity to honor her amazing life,” said Celebration Village Executive Director Keith Magnan. “She’s proof that active, engaged people can thrive at any age.”