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Warren Smith Thermometer

Decent Essays

The thermometer isn’t the only thing reaching the century mark this summer. A week ago Saturday there was a celebration at First Baptist Church that was a century in the making — the 100th birthday of Dumas resident Oleta Smith.

Smith’s milestone birthday celebration was a well-attended event. She received so many birthday cards, it took her several days to read them all.

“There were guests from 13 states,” she said. Those guests included her daughter, two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, lots of nieces and nephews, as well as many other family members and friends.

Two guests who made the trip to Dumas for the celebration were men who served alongside her son, Warren Smith, in Vietnam. Smith’s son lost his life while saving the …show more content…

She was selected by the state of Utah to gauge fallout from bombs. She lived in Texas City during the industrial accident of 1947. Smith went into a missile hole during the Vietnam War. She visited 17 states and two foreign countries within six weeks time in 1968. She’s been to two World Fair events (1968 and 1982). She lived on a Navajo reservation for 17 years. She walked atop Alaska’s Mendenhall Glacier in 1992, and, most recently, she went zip lining in Branson, Missouri, at the age of 98.

“I’ve had lot of fun, interesting experiences,” she said.

In her spare time, Smith enjoys a good game of dominoes or cards, and she’s an avid Texas Rangers baseball fan. In fact, she’s watched the Rangers play at Wrigley Field and in Oakland, and she’s planning a trip to see the Rangers play the Braves in their new stadium this September.

Smith said she is not aware of any generation in her family living to the age of 100. She said she attributes her longevity to living a clean life and God’s grace.

Her granddaughter, Debra, said Smith also “eats a lot of chocolate”.

It’s apparent Smith discovered a formula that has afforded her a long and eventful life. She truly is living up to the words in Rep. Price’s resolution and is a “Texas

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