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Jan 26, 2008 10:30 pm US/Central
DeSoto Woman Celebrates 100th Birthday In Style
(CBS 11 News)
Frances Wilson was a star Saturday when she marked her 100th birthday.
A helicopter flight, a ride in a Bentley and even a walk down a red carpet were on tap for the celebration.
The DeSoto woman got the ride of her very
long life, taking a "first-ever" helicopter ride.
A few hundred family members and friends met Frances Wilson at the end of her maiden flight. But, the 100-year-old didn't sweat the helicopter ride.
"I loved it, it was wonderful," she gushed. "No, I wasn't afraid … wasn't afraid at all."
After the flight, she was whisked to a church reception in a 1963 Bentley, complete with authentic British right-hand drive.
Wilson has a long history with the Oaks Fellowship Church in Red Oak.
A minister's wife, her grandson now is senior pastor here. His father, the former pastor, read well-wishes from the White House.
Her family includes eight other grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
Mrs. Wilson credits her longevity to having a good attitude, staying friendly, knitting and crocheting. Above all, a sense of serving her God gets her through each day.
"I pray each day," she stressed.
During the past few years, Wilson has even learned to use a computer to write a book on her "first hundred years."
She distributed a copy of the self-published memoirs to everyone who attended the celebration.
Her actual birthday is Tuesday.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
