Muriel Hughes’ best memories of childhood summer visits to Chocowinity are of sitting on her great-grandmother’s porch swing as family gathered.
Hughes and her daughter Marae, along with many other friends and relatives, visited River Trace Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Washington on Monday to help her great-grandmother, Hattie Peed, celebrate her 106th birthday.
Mayor Jimmy Mobley was on hand to say a few words about the woman who spent over a century as a resident of Chocowinity.
Mobley, who told the audience that he grew up just down the road from where Peed lived, referred to her as a “a constant source of inspiration” and urged
her to “take pride in all her life achievements.”
“It has been a pleasure knowing you and your family,” Mobley said, as he wished her happy birthday from the town of Chocowinity.
Muriel and Marae Hughes narrated a brief history of Peed’s life for the crowd: born on Jan. 21, 1907, she married Theodore Roosevelt Peed and became mother to Theodore Roosevelt Peed Jr. “Teddy” and Georgia Belle Davis. They said Peed comes from a long line of healthy folks, but has a secret for long life. Her advice: “no drinking, no smoking, keep your body clean — but dipping a little snuff wouldn’t hurt.”
According to family members, her secret worked: Peed avoided the hospital until she was 100 years old and lived on her own until the age of 102, when she became a resident of River Trace. Along the way, Peed spent her time gardening, fishing, singing in church, crocheting, sewing, baking and, of course, sitting on her front-porch swing, swinging.
“It’s a true blessing,” said Hughes of the gathering to celebrate her great-grandmother’s long life.