Pictured above: Elmira Gandy Crapps receives a proclamation in her honor from Century Mayor Freddie McCall at Poplar Dell Baptist Church. Pictured inset: North Escambia resident Elmira Gandy Crapps turned 103 Sunday. NorthEscambia.com
North Escambia resident Elmira Gandy Crapps turned 103 this week, with congratulations pouring in from friends, family and political leaders.
Century Mayor Freddie McCall designated an Elmira Gandy Crapps Day in the Town of Century. Florida Governor Charlie Crist offered his congratulations, as did Congressman Jeff Miller.
Crapps was born in Butler County, Alabama, near Georgiana in 1907. Theodore Roosevelt was president. A loaf of bread cost four cents. A gallon of milk was 29 cents. A new Ford? That would set you back 600 bucks.
She moved to a farm with her family in the Gandyville community in 1925, and still lives just down the road from that home.
As of just a few months ago, she was still driving, mostly to three places: the Piggly Wiggly for groceries, her church and her hairdresser. She’s still an active member of Poplar Dell Baptist Church, and very quick to give the Lord all the credit for her age and her health.
When asked her secret for a long life, she quickly replied that there was no secret. “It’s good living and a love of God. I’ve been blessed by the Lord and walk with Him,” she said. “The Lord always takes care of me.”
When asked about the biggest change in her lifetime, she said “the way people wear, or don’t wear clothes”.
She never had children, but has “a ton” of nieces and nephews. Her father, John Oxford Gandy lived to the age of 108. In 1973, the Florida Legislature named Gandyville
after him. He, by the way, had a first cousin that also lived to be 108.
Celebrating a 103rd birthday seems like a big deal to everyone — everyone but Elmira Gandy Crapps.”Everybody has birthdays,” she said.
As of just a few months ago, she was still driving, mostly to three places: the Piggly Wiggly for groceries, her church and her hairdresser. She’s still an active member of Poplar Dell Baptist Church, and very quick to give the Lord all the credit for her age and her health.
When asked her secret for a long life, she quickly replied that there was no secret. “It’s good living and a love of God. I’ve been blessed by the Lord and walk with Him,” she said. “The Lord always takes care of me.”
When asked about the biggest change in her lifetime, she said “the way people wear, or don’t wear clothes”.
She never had children, but has “a ton” of nieces and nephews. Her father, John Oxford Gandy lived to the age of 108. In 1973, the Florida Legislature named Gandyville after him. He, by the way, had a first cousin that also lived to be 108.
Celebrating a 103rd birthday seems like a big deal to everyone — everyone but Elmira Gandy Crapps.”Everybody has birthdays,” she said.
