Local woman turns 100 on Christmas Day

JACKSON, Tenn. — Friends and family gathered together on Christmas to celebrate a milestone birthday as Ocie Carter turns 100.

“Apparently she did something right in her life, because she’s still here,” said Ocie’s daughter, Mary Johnson.

The family says Ocie has eight children, 35 grandchildren and almost 40 great grandchildren, but Ocie says she’s not ready to slow down yet.

“I don’t want to be just doing this way, I want to be something I can kind of twist a little bit,” said Carter.

Born in 1917, her family says her secret is she’s always been hard working.

“And they said, ‘she got 400 pounds of cotton today.’ I’m like, how,” Johnson said. “We would go and try to pick cotton, and we couldn’t get no more than ten pounds in a bag.”

They also consider Ocie to be a generous woman.

“She would pick beans, tomatoes, and give it to people that didn’t have anything,” said Johnson.

So family members shared old photos and stories to celebrate her life.

“Because these are memories of her back in the day,” said Mattie Carter, Ocie’s daughter.

And let her do what she loves to do today at 100.

“She loves to watch Ellen, the Ellen Show, and she also loves Price is Right and she’s forever saying, ‘ooo, if I can get on that game show, I sure would win,'” Johnson said, “and she loves cops.”

Friends and family say they are looking forward to spending time with Ocie for many more years to come.