Forsyth County woman: ‘You just grow up and suddenly you’re 100’

1980 — 32,194

1990 — 37,306

2000 — 50,454

2010 — 53,364

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

CENTENARIAN FACTS

Most likely to be female — 82.8 percent

Most likely to be widowed — 85 percent of females; 65 percent of males

Most likely to have never finished high school — 43 percent male and female

More likely to live in urban areas than other older populations.

Higher concentration in Northeast and Midwest than in other regions.

Living arrangements

Live at home with others — males, 43.5 percent; females, 28.5 percent

Live at home alone — males, 33.3 percent; females, 34 percent

Live in a nursing home — males, 18.2 percent; females, 35.2 percent

Other group quarters — males, 5.1 percent; females, 2.3 percent

Source: "Centenarians: 2010," U.S. Census Bureau

When Margaret Louise Warren of Forsyth County celebrated her birthday last month, she joined the growing ranks of centenarians.

Turning 100, while still a rarity, is not quite the oddity it once was.

Today, the nation has just over an estimated 53,000 centenarians, a population that has jumped every decade for the past 30 years, according to the 2010 U.S. Census.

Warren — who was born Feb. 10, 1916, in central Pennsylvania — celebrated her birthday with a gathering of 100 friends and family members at her assisted living residence in south Forsyth. She was later surprised by the Forsyth County Commission, which proclaimed a resolution in her honor.

“You just grow up and suddenly you’re 100,” Warren said. She still has a sharp mind and memory and continues to do much of the same activities she began doing when retiring 35 years ago.

Warren was an entrepreneur who, as a single mother with two daughters, ran a successful poultry processing operation, which she started in the late 1940s with a secondhand brooder and a few hundred chicks.

Using her God-given business smarts and a fierce determination, she transitioned from selling chicks to egg production to meat processing then producing gourmet frozen chicken products long before TV dinners and other convenience meals became part of popular culture.

Island Poultry Farm Inc. became an economic engine in her Pennsylvania township and one of its leading employers, said daughter Pat Viars.

“I’ve never seen anyone more determined than her. She is an ordinary woman who did extraordinary things because of her determination. Not a famous person, but a determined one,” Viars said.

Warren moved to Atlanta in 2000 to be closer to her daughter, and now Viars lives within walking distance of her mom’s residence. Warren’s older daughter, Jean Novosel, passed away in 1990 at age 55.

When Warren was in her late 80s, she started typing up stories about her business and life experiences and saving them on her computer. They were intended for her family; she didn’t want them to think all of her successes just happened without hard work.

At the urging of family and friends, and the help of Viars, she self-published her autobiography: "Growing Where I Was Planted," which came out on her 99th birthday. She's had several autograph signings.

Warren sold her poultry plant and retired in 1980, then learned to play bridge and golf to remain active. She had to give up golf in her 80s, but still plays bridge. She’s a regular with three different bridge groups and says she would play every day if she could. She also likes to play Scrabble and hand and foot canasta.

She also loves to travel, but gave up driving in 2004 because the Atlanta traffic made her too nervous.

Staying active is important to her, Viars said. “She’s always been go, go, go. She’s a doer. She doesn’t watch TV at all, never has.”

Instead, Warren reads a lot, especially anything by author Danielle Steel, and also mysteries and autobiographies, usually finishing a book every two weeks, her daughter said.

She keeps up with her three grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren on Facebook, and uses her tablet to email back and forth with friends.

Warren has never had a major illness, but back pain from sciatica keeps her from walking any distance, so she relies on a power chair for mobility. Otherwise, she’s fairly independent, only needing help getting her shoes on and off, said her daughter.

Her secret formula for living so long: Do everything in moderation. She follows no special diet, has never smoked and only drinks socially, never alone. Warren said she’s always felt like she had an angel on her shoulder.

“The good Lord has been good to me,” she said. “I always felt like there was someone guiding me besides myself.”