Always a Horned Frog: 107-year-old recognized as oldest TCU alumna
On top of celebrating her 107th birthday, Janette Gillespie got a special surprise Monday.
Texas Christian University in Fort Worth recognized her as the school’s oldest living alumna at a party at the Oak Brook Health Care Center in Whitehouse, near Tyler.
According to the Tyler Morning Telegraph, Gillespie went to Lon Morris College in Jacksonville and later pursued a degree in commerce and economics in Cowtown. She graduated in TCU’s class of 1932.
At her birthday party Monday, the university gave her a box of gifts, including an old yearbook.
“TCU checked and found out that my mother is the oldest living alumni of their school,” Janan Hale, Gillespie’s daughter told the newspaper. “It’s a treasure, and I’m not sure she has recognized how important it is.”
Gillespie shared her secret to living a long life: “The good Lord, good family and good food.”
According to a previous Morning Telegraph story, after leaving TCU, Gillespie returned to Lon Morris College, where she taught business courses. She wasn’t much older than most of her students.
“Not too many women went to college when she did,” Hale previously said. “She loved her work and she did work most of her life.”
Being a centenarian runs in Gillespie’s family. Of her five sisters, two lived to be older than 100.
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This story was originally published January 31, 2017 at 6:25 PM with the headline "Always a Horned Frog: 107-year-old recognized as oldest TCU alumna."