Gainesville woman turns 106-years-old
GAINESVILLE, Ga. - A special birthday party is taking place over the weekend in honor of a great-great-grandmother from Gainesville.
Nona Whitmire has seen a lot in her long life. She was born on September 7, 1909 in Habersham County and on Labor Day Monday she turns 106-years-old!
Whitmire, who considers herself a devout FOX 5 viewer, married JT Whitmire on August 25, 1935. One year later the Whitmires survived the devastating tornado of 1936 that ripped through Gainesville.
Together, they had two children, four grandchildren, 11 great-grandchildren and eight great-great-grandchildren! Sadly, Whitmire’s husband passed away very early in life in June of 1968. She currently has one living sibling, Elsie.
Whitmire still lives in her Gainesville home with 24-hour care and she is the oldest living member of Airline Baptist Church where she still attends almost every Sunday.
Whitmire’s great-granddaughter Megan Lower said her secret to life is working hard, eating healthy and abiding by the Bible verse Exodus 20:12 which states: "Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee." Lower said one of her great-grandmother’s passions was cooking for others.
“She created a cookbook with some of her favorite recipes with the help of her children at the age of 104,” said Lower. “She is passing these on to future generations.”
Lower told FOX 5's Katie Muse that Whitmire also enjoys reading her Bible. She reads it daily and has read it completely through numerous times.
“Her memory is still in-tact with the ability to remember details from her teenage years,” said Lower.
A birthday party took place on Saturday at Food Factory in Cornelia. Whitmire's loved ones want to make this an extraordinary memory for her and their family.
From all of us at FOX 5 News, happy birthday Nona Whitmire!