CASSOPOLIS, Mich. -- Ethel Tone reached the 100-year milestone. She and her 110 direct descendants, as well as friends and family all made the trip to Cassopolis to join her on Saturday. Ethel has three sons and two daughters, 13 grandchildren, and is even a great, great grandmother, with two on the way.
Her oldest daughter Rebekah Brown says her parents were married for more than 50 years and were very active in the church and the community.
"Well, with my mom, it's been such a wonderful experience." Brown said. "She, as you can see, I'm getting a little choked up. She's been a wonderful mom. There were times, though, when I would rather have eaten ice cream, but she made me eat green beans. She's been a wonderful mom. She's been a great asset to the family, and to the community. And everyone we've seen in the last week, maybe two, has just been so excited and appreciative of her and telling us how lucky we are that we've got to have a mom who lived to be 100."
The five birthday cakes meant for the 250 plus guests at the party were sweet, but Ethel found the well-wishes even sweeter.
"It is so sweet," Tone said. "People that I have known for years come up and say, 'happy birthday'."
The party was well attended due to Tone's kind nature and involvement in her younger years.
"My mom was always a Sunday School teacher." Brown said, "she taught Sunday School, for, golly, almost all of her life. She played the piano, she played the organ. And I don't know how many weddings she played for. She was the manager for the ten-cent store uptown. And then she worked at a little restaurant called The Tasty Curl. She was always involved in the church and everything that went on with the church, and all kinds of different things. Anytime there was anything, she'd be the one that was willing to work it.
Diet, exercise, music, reading, and more are all things people attribute to their long lives. Tone has a similar sentiment. "I never drank and I never smoked. And I praise the Lord that he has extended my years."