TARBORO —
Susie Taylor Brown of Tarboro will celebrate her 101st birthday on Tuesday and, after living for more than a century, she registered to vote for the first time.
“I’ve never signed (voted) before, but I wanted to sign for him [President Barack Obama],” Brown said. “I hope he wins.”
Born in an era long before blacks and whites had equal rights, Brown said she never thought she would live to see the day a black president would be president.
“They don’t want that black president, but they got to have one. You’re going to have one this time if I have to put him in there.”
Brown registered to vote after her second cousin, Layveran Rhoades, asked her if she had registered and she said that she never had.
“If a 101-year-old woman can take time out to vote, what is wrong with the rest of us?” asked Rhoades. She said her cousin “stays abreast of what’s going on in the community and in the world.”
Along with watching the president on the news, Brown enjoys talking on the telephone and reading her Bible. She couldn’t pinpoint a secret to her long life, but her friends and family attribute her longevity to her faith in God and kindness to others.
“She is a mother to many in the Edgecombe area. She’s even given people the opportunity to come and live with her, not to pay any rent, just to be there,” said George Terry, pastor of St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church, where Brown is a member. “I can see why the Lord has allowed her to get over 100 years old.”
Brown has never had any children of her own, but she said she has babysat plenty of children “black and white” and has raised several others. She said she has done her share of cooking and seen to it that no one who entered her home went hungry.
“If they don’t have anything to eat, I’d take it out of my mouth and feed them,” said Brown. She still has a healthy appetite and indulges in small luxuries, such as Hershey’s dark chocolate bars and coffee.
“I love my coffee. I drink it every day,” she said. Brown is known for her witticisms, as well. Walk through the front door of her home and she’ll say, “You got the right house but the wrong woman.”
Brown won’t allow anyone to come into her home and talk negatively about other people, said Terry.
“You run your mouth and I’ll run my business,” Brown will say. Above all, Brown is a woman of “great faith,” said Terry.
“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want,” said Brown, quoting her favorite passage of Scripture: Psalm 23.
Community
Related Photos
-
Brown The Daily Southerner
Centenarian registers to vote for first time
- Community
-
-
Edgecombe Garden Club honors members
The Edgecombe Garden Club met May 1 for their noon luncheon at the Fountains of the Albemarle. After President Pauline Nicolosi greeted everyone, Sandra Joyner, Devotion Chairman, read “Torch” which was about our tongues torching good or evil.
Hostess Barbara Getzug described her specially designed flower arrangement of mock orange, snowball, purple columbine, and many varieties of roses. President Pauline, Hostesses Gloria Wall and Louise Fleming did the table arrangements. They contained wiegelia, azalea, ivy, mock orange, and ligustrum. -
DAR AWARDS
GOOD CITIZEN WINNERS with school names (left to right): Amanda Larson, Northern Nash; Meredith Glover, Southern Nash; Cameron Dengler, Rocky Mount Academy; and William Joyner “Brad,” SouthWest Edgecombe
-
DAR AWARDS
GOOD CITIZENSHIP WINNERS with school names (left to right): Emanuel Jones, Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic; Daniel Tavon Thorne, Englewood Elementary, Chryshanta Johnson, Williford Elementary; Elizabeth Tebo, Spring Hope Elementary; Regent Dottie Barrett. Not present: Lorah Beth Currin, Faith Christian, and Susana Contreras-Blanco, Princeville Elementary
-
Tarboro Woman’s Club presented awards
The May meeting of the Tarboro Woman’s Club held at the Albemarle on Wednesday was a celebration of the club’s 60 years of service to this community. The speaker at the meeting was Carolyn Owens, special events coordinator for Edenton Tourism, and her topic was The Edenton Tea Party. It seems a variety of myths have colored the facts about the Edenton ladies’ protest against their husband’s boycott of tea following King George III’s new tax on tea imports in 1775.
-
Gamma Lambda Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma initiates four new members at spring banquet
On April 18, 2013, Gamma Lambda Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma held their final meeting for this year, which included their spring banquet. During the meeting, the chapter initiated four new members. New members included Kelly Anderson, Jennifer Derby, Kimberlie Lewis, and Dreama Pressly. New member Teresa Harrell was not able to attend; she will be initiated at their first fall meeting.
-
Dixon new manager of volunteer services
Vidant Edgecombe Hospital is pleased to welcome Amy Dixon as the new Manager of Volunteer Services.
Originally from Edgecombe County, Dixon graduated from Hobgood Academy and moved on to Peace College and East Carolina University, where she received her bachelor’s degree in Marketing in 2003. Prior to coming to Vidant Edgecombe Hospital, she served as Director of Admissions at the Fountains at the Albemarle in Tarboro for seven years. -
Stocks Elementary School celebrates Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Week
In celebration of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Week, Stocks Elementary School hosted several guest speakers and exciting activities during the first week of May.
-
HOBGOOD SCIENCE FAIR
Hobgood Academy's fifth and sixth grade science classes recently presented their science projects. The sixth grade class projects were to be concentrated on space. Andrew Carlisle, whose project was the 1969 Apollo 11 manned mission to the moon, took top honors. His project depicted the moon landing and his poster gave information about this milestone in the history of our country.
-
Quiz Bowl champions
The South Edgecombe Middle Quiz Bowl Team are the 2013 Edgecombe County Public Schools Quiz Bowl champions. Picture from front to back, left to right are Dylan Hyman, Frankie Edwards and Chris Modlin, Matthew Jones, Cameron Gomez, Yancey Coltrane, David Edwards, Leaton White, David Parisher, Katlyn Webb, Jack Coltrane and JD Reid.
-
NC Symphony coming to Tarboro June 6
“At the Movies” will be the theme when the North Carolina Symphony comes to Tarboro on Thursday, June 6. The concert will begin at 7 p.m. on the Town Common. The free performance is sponsored by Keihin Carolina System Technology, Tarboro Savings Bank and Ronald G. Ellis, Jr. and is part of the symphony’s “Concerts in Your Community” series.
- More Community Headlines
-
Raw: Train Derails After Overpass Collapse
Raw: Rescues From San Antonio Flooding
Raw: French Soldier Stabbed in Throat Near Paris
Mayor: Person Killed in San Antonio Flooding
Raw: Apple 1 Computer Sells for More Than $650k
Hagel Urges Cadets to End Scourge of Sex Assault
Raw: Gay Rights Activists March in Ukraine
Bus Fire Kills 16 Children, Teacher in Pakistan
Raw: Pakistan Election Results Protested
Raw: Trucker Bumps I-5 Bridge Before Collapse
Raw: Texas Deputy Shot by Colo. Suspect Honored
Major Detours Following Wash. Bridge Collapse
American Held in Grisly Czech Murders
Raw: Jersey Shore Reopens for Summer
UK-bound Pakistan Plane Diverted, 2 Men Arrested
