Weldon Heaton, 101, chats with Gov. Spencer Cox on the thirty fourth annual Centenarian Celebration on the Viridian Occasion Middle in West Jordan on Thursday, Aug. 4, 2022. Laura Seitz, Deseret Information
James William Broadwater Jr., 100, chats together with his daughter, Jan Smith, on the thirty fourth annual Centenarian Celebration on the Viridian Occasion Middle in West Jordan on Thursday. Laura Seitz, Deseret Information
Lula Lee Harley Henry, 101, attends the thirty fourth annual centenarian celebration on the Viridian Occasion Middle in West Jordan on Thursday. “Thoughts you personal enterprise, it helps you sleep higher. Belief solely in God,” are Henry’s phrases of recommendation. Laura Seitz, Deseret Information
Telesila Castro, 107, is kissed by her daughters, Thalia Castro, left, and Mercy Viteri, on the thirty fourth annual Centenarian Celebration on the Viridian Occasion Middle in West Jordan on Thursday. Laura Seitz, Deseret Information
The 12 months Salt Lake Metropolis native James Broadwater was born, President Warren G. Harding put in the primary radio within the White Home, the Lincoln Memorial was devoted, work started on the unique Yankee Stadium and the Ottoman Empire collapsed.
That was 1922. On April 12 of this 12 months, Broadwater rang in his a hundredth birthday with a shock occasion attended by 55 of his kids and grandchildren. His recommendation to youthful generations?
"Train on daily basis and eat correctly," mentioned Broadwater, a World Warfare II veteran and former Marine. That steerage is one thing he applied in his personal life. In reality, he performed three hours of tennis on daily basis for 30 years.
James William Broadwater Jr., 100, chats together with his daughter, Jan Smith, on the thirty fourth annual Centenarian Celebration on the Viridian Occasion Middle in West Jordan on Thursday.
Laura Seitz, Deseret Information
Broadwater is considered one of 130 members of the Governor's Century Membership, 99 of whom are turning 100 this 12 months. On Thursday, the state held its first annual centenarian celebration since 2019 to honor Utahns who've reached their a hundredth birthday and past.
Gov. Spencer Cox harassed through the celebration in West Jordan the significance of connecting throughout generations.
"We'd like our aged mother and father and grandparents and great-grandparents to attach with us. That is vital for psychological well being, and it is vital for group. I imagine it is vital for the survival of our nation," Cox mentioned. "There may be a lot knowledge on this room."
Lula Henry, who turned 100 final October, has a little bit of her personal knowledge to move on: "Thoughts your small business and belief in God."
Henry is initially from Greenwood, Mississippi, the place she married soldier George Henry at 19.
"Someone requested me, 'How did you get married so younger?' I mentioned, 'My husband taught me how you can elope,'" Henry mentioned. "He promised me, 'When you marry me, I will get you thru faculty and I promise you that I will be an excellent husband.' And he did."
Lula Lee Harley Henry, 101, attends the thirty fourth annual centenarian celebration on the Viridian Occasion Middle in West Jordan on Thursday. “Thoughts you personal enterprise, it helps you sleep higher. Belief solely in God,” are Henry’s phrases of recommendation.
Laura Seitz, Deseret Information
The couple moved to Utah in 1946 after George was honorably discharged and Henry's sister inspired her to return to the state to get a greater schooling. She would ultimately graduate from the Nationwide Baptist Congress of Christian Schooling and turn out to be the director of Christian schooling on the Calvary Baptist Church in Salt Lake Metropolis.
Henry and her husband had been escaping Jim Crow segregation within the South by shifting to Utah, changing into a part of the Nice Migration throughout which 6 million African Individuals left the agricultural South. She's since fallen in love with Utah.
"I really like the surroundings and I really like the mountains," Henry mentioned. "After I go locations and there are not any mountains I really feel misplaced."
Telesila Castro, who turns 108 on Aug. 18, is one other Utah transplant. Initially from Guayaquil, Ecuador, Castro moved to the U.S. 21 years in the past along with her siblings and daughters. Though the transfer wasn't too tough, changing into a U.S. citizen and reaching 100 wasn't one thing Castro ever anticipated.
Telesila Castro, 107, is kissed by her daughters, Thalia Castro, left, and Mercy Viteri, on the thirty fourth annual Centenarian Celebration on the Viridian Occasion Middle in West Jordan on Thursday.
Laura Seitz, Deseret Information
Rising up in Ecuador, Castro mentioned her mother and father had been strict and protecting.
"We'd obtain serenades and letters hidden in books so nobody in the home would know," Castro wrote in a yearbook that includes Utah's centenarians. She and her oldest sister realized to be seamstresses throughout a time when the household lived on a small farm with orange timber, cane sugar, rice, beans and a wide range of fruit.
As we speak she sees the united statesas her nation and is comfortable to see her 13 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren working and learning to achieve their objectives. Her counsel for younger folks is "that they take nice care of themselves, that they eat effectively and be obedient to their mother and father," Castro mentioned in Spanish, surrounded by her 4 daughters and two granddaughters.