Almedia Stanton said she never expected to reach the century mark with her latest birthday milestone.

“I just never did think that I would live to be this old and live to be 100,” said Stanton. “I feel very blessed.”

Stanton celebrated her 100th birthday with family and friends at the Hidden Valley Senior Center in Stockbridge Friday.

Stanton was born on December 30, 1918, and grew up in a small farming community in northeast Arkansas. She was raised on a farm on the Arkansas-Missouri state line.

As well-wishers greeted her during the celebration, Stanton briefly recalled what life was like for her and her three brothers back then.

“I did farmwork when we were growing up – cotton, soybeans and watermelons,” she said. “Acres and acres of cotton.”

Stanton has two children, four grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren – including one who passed away – and two great-great-grandchildren. She has lived with her daughter, Tricia Lee of Stockbridge, for 12 years.

Lee described her mother as someone who always did her best to treat others the way she wanted to be treated.

Stanton can be described as someone who has always been on the go, as evidenced by her work history. She worked as a church secretary at Griffin Memorial Methodist Church in Paragould, Ark., and later as a middle-school and high-school secretary, also in Paragould, said Lee.

“Then she retired,” said Lee, 70. “She got bored, so she went back to work. She was the secretary of the Paragould-area Chamber of Commerce until she retired again.”

When asked about her reasons for returning to work after her first retirement, Stanton offered a succinct response.

“I didn’t have anything to do,” she said. “There were things to do, but it wasn’t keeping me busy.”

These days, Stanton spends much of her time reading books and watching reruns of her favorite TV shows, “Gunsmoke” and “In the Heat of the Night.”

During the birthday party, the centenarian made a point of standing up to greet her son, William Stanton, who came all the way from El Paso, Texas for the occasion. Moments after his arrival, he recounted one of the most prominent lessons he learned from his mother – the importance of treating others well.

“Probably the most amazing thing about her is, I was raised only to judge a person by their actions and their character,” said William Stanton, 68. “Everybody was equal, and you only judged a person by what they did.”

William Stanton further pointed out that longevity among his loved ones is not limited to his mother.

“Her mom lived to be 94 or 95,” he said.

Deanna McCart-Perez works as an activities coordinator at Hidden Valley. She acknowledged that few people at the center have reached 100 years of age, but was happy to celebrate Almedia Stanton’s milestone.

“She’s very, very sweet,” she said. “She always has a smile on her face.”