Celebrating 100

An area resident is celebrating her 100th birthday today.

Nellie West was born March 22, 1923, in Batesville, Arkansas, to Jewell and Bada Scott.

Gary West, her son, recalled stories his mother told about growing up in Arkansas. A product of the time, Nellie’s education stopped at sixth grade.

“When she was born, she grew up during the Depression, so being in Arkansas down there, they were very, very poor when they were little girls, and that’s about all she would ever talk to us about,” he said.

The longtime Montpelier resident who now lives at Persimmon Ridge Rehabilitation Centre in Portland had two sisters and two brothers. Clairene Clements, the oldest sister, died at 102 last year, and both Jay and Walter Scott died several years prior. Rosie King, Nellie’s youngest sister at 98, lives in Hartford City.

Nellie met Wayne West, an Indiana native, while he was at boot camp in Mississippi. She moved to Indiana and briefly worked at Farnsworth Television and Radio Corporation in Bluffton while Wayne served in the Army infantry division during World War II. He was medically discharged from active duty after three years and awarded a Purple Heart.

The couple wed on Sept. 27, 1946, and spent most of their years together in Montpelier. They had two children, Gary and Larry West, as well as four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Nellie maintained the house, and Wayne worked for 42 years at J&B Chevrolet in Montpelier. He died in 2006.

Nellie’s hobbies included sewing, crocheting and making items out of plastic canvas. She created many quilts for family members over the years with her sister-in-law.

She also had a green thumb. Nellie loved the outdoors and maintained a garden every year, harvesting and canning her vegetables, which included green beans, beets and turnips, among others.

At 95 years old, Nellie was still mowing her own lawn, Gary recalled.

“Not too many people can say that,” he said, noting that he only lived five blocks away from her at that time. “She’d get mad at me (if I mowed for her) … everything that Mom did, she’d do it for herself. That’s just the type of person she was.”

Several years back, Nellie fell while taking her trash can to the curb. Two hip surgeries later, she moved to an assisted living facility in Hartford City. In May 2018, she settled in at Persimmon Ridge and she’s been there ever since.

Staff at Persimmon Ridge have a sweet spot for the centenarian, who will be celebrating her birthday with a party at 4 p.m. today.

“Nellie is just one of our sweetest residents. You can almost always get a smile out of her, even if she’s having a bad day,” said Alisha Watters, admissions and marketing director at Persimmon Ridge. “It’s impossible not to love her.”

A lot has changed about Nellie since her dementia began progressing. She has some good days, some bad days, according to her caretakers.

During a visit to her room in the east wing Monday, Nellie rested her eyes while sitting in her recliner, a blanket wrapped snugly around her upper body. When she heard a nurse’s voice, her eyes flew open and lit up almost instantly.

And although she wasn’t in the mood to talk much, Nellie’s smile at the nurse said it all.

After 100 years, you learn to take life one day at a time.