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At 100 years, woman looking to ‘new century'
Published October 30, 2009
LOGANVILLE — When Evelyn McConnell celebrated her 100th birthday at the community center at Royal Southern Plantations Tuesday, she said for her it represented one important thing — the beginning of her next century.
“I’m interested in the future, what’s to come — I don’t look back,” McConnell said, citing this as one of the main reasons, she believes, for her longevity. “I’m so excited about starting a new century. I want to be a part of it — a part of what’s happening. There’s just so much to learn.”
McConnell, who was born in Texas, moved to London with her parents and was there during World War I.
“She then moved back to the USA, spent some time in the Carolinas and finished up in Georgia,” said her daughter-in-law, Donna McConnell, who has been married to McConnell’s son, Jesse, for 50 years. “So I know her very well. She is so strong willed — never says ‘I can’t’ about anything. She always says ‘I can or I will try.’ She has a terrific inner strength and is always cheerful. She has traveled all over the world, lives by herself and still knits all the caps for the newborns at Emory Eastside Hospital in Snellville.”
In fact, McConnell was awarded the White House Presidential Volunteer Award for donating more than 100 hours of service. McConnell went way over with a total of 2,024 volunteer hours, 900 of them in one 12-month period from 2007 to 2008.
McConnell said during the century she has already lived, she considers the moon landing the most significant event.
“That was really the beginning of the scientific age and that’s the way we’re going now,” McConnell said. “It’s such an exciting time. I’m starting a new century and I want to be part of it. I want to find out everything there is to know. People don’t use their minds enough. If you tell me something, I might not understand it now, but I could find out and learn about it.”
McConnell had her son and his wife at her birthday celebration with her as well as many friends. From her son and his wife she got the only gift she had requested, the soundtrack of Elvis Presley singing “Hounddog” and “Blue Suede Shoes.”
“That was all she wanted,” said her daughter-in-law. “She said she wanted it because it was upbeat and positive.”
McConnell, who was widowed more than 20 years ago, had three sons — two of them deceased — and she has one grandson and two great-grandsons.
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