RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — Marjorie Arnold was born in 1918 in Tarboro. In August, she celebrated her 108th birthday. She still goes to church every Sunday and still sings, prays, and inspires four generations of family members.
Marjorie’s 108th birthday celebration was a celebration fit for a queen, and she relished her role as the guest of honor. The great-great-grandmother arrived in style, her smile and her tiara sparkling. She even did a little dancing.
Four generations of family members filled the room to celebrate. “She brings people together, and that’s a beautiful thing,” said her daughter, Lucy Arnold, who lives with her mom in Raleigh.
Marjorie has been a caregiver for as long as her children can remember.
“My mother was the type of person that loved people,” explained Clara Alexander, Marjorie’s oldest daughter. Clara is 87 and the oldest of 10 children — seven girls and three boys.
Marjorie was also the oldest of 10 and took care of her own mother when she got sick.
“Even when she was a girl at 14,15. She took care of her mom until her mom passed. Then she took care of her siblings,” Lucy said. “She had to make their clothes; she showed her sister’s clothing.”
Once she had children of her own, Marjorie cared for them and worked long days on the farm, but she still found time to help her neighbors.
“She’d take food to them,” Clara remembered. “We’d walk down the dusty highway, dirt road, carrying food to different people’s houses, taking care of them.”
Cooking was a passion.
“Do a lot of cooking,” Marjorie recalled. “Collards, cabbage. Whatever I eat is what I cook.”
Daughter Judy Rhodes said her mom passed that passion along to her children.
“I’ve got a big family too. I love cooking to feed my family,” Rhodes said.
Marjorie’s children learned a lot more than cooking from their mother.
“She taught us to be good people,” Lucy said. “How she raised us, I just took on those traits and try to instill them into my children, teach them to cook and take care of your family, provide for them. Mommy did all that for us.”
“She took care of us, did her very best and I try to be the same way,” Clara added.
They are thankful that Marjorie is still here to share her faith and her memories. Her favorite memories are simple times with family. “I go to church, come back home, and cook me some good ol’ food,” she said, smiling.
Marjorie is still the center of her family. “I call her almost every day,” said Judy, who lives in Baltimore. “I’ve got to call my mommy, check on my mommy, and then I’ll call, hear her voice, and I’m alright.”
After decades of watching Marjorie care for everyone else, Lucy now cares for her mom.
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“I asked God to give me that opportunity, and it came,” she noted. “She is a remarkable woman.”
Whether they’re singing, dancing, praying, or just sharing time together, Marjorie’s family is grateful for every year and every moment.
“It’s just a blessing all the way around,” Lucy said. “To have Marjorie Arnold as our sweet mother.”