By Vicki Gandy Baggett

Jan. 20, 2007

Very few people can have bragging rights for seeing an entire century come and go, especially if their minds are still sharp enough to tell about the changes that century has entailed. From horses and buggies to finally automatic transmissions, Elmira Gandy Crapps is one of the few who has experienced life to the fullest by following in her father's footsteps and becoming another Gandy to reach the 100th year milestone.

Aunt Myra with 100th birthday cake.

Moving here with her four brothers and one sister, Aunt Myra (as she is affectionately known throughout the Byrneville Community) and her parents, John Oxford and Victoria Black Gandy traveled from Georgianna, Alabama in 1925. She was 18 at the time. She loved the area quickly and also fell in love and later married W.H. (Haynes) Crapps. The couple soon succeeded in a transportation business venture by opening Gulf & Southern Transportation Company in Century, Florida and keeping it active for around 45 years. The company provided hauling services for timber, lumber and equipment. In addition to being a successful business partner, Aunt Myra and her husband joined Poplar Dell Baptist Church in Byrneville in the 1930s, where she is still an active member today. They were married for 65 years before he passed away.

Over 70 family and friends shared in the special event.

Aunt Myra's name is synonymous with the Byrneville area, not only because she is one of three Gandys to reach her 100th birthday, but because she remains so unbelievably active. "It's unbelievable," her pastor Mitch Herring shared at her birthday party. "I run into her sometimes at the grocery store. She is pushing her buggy and gathering up her groceries. Then I later see her backing her car out of the parking lot, heading home." (She has currently renewed her drivers license.) When people ask her about her secrets to longevity, she coins a familiar phrase that most of her great-nephews and neices have heard before: "I trust in God and keep to myself." These were the same words her father used to quote to old-age seekers when they came for visits to his wooden front porch off of Highway 4, except he would add, "and mind my own business" to the phrase. At 108 years of age, John Oxford Gandy is the reason that the Gandyville community is named such. He also had a first cousin from Georgianna who lived to be 108, and just like John Oxford, the two remained active, alert and able to live alone up until a few days before their deaths.

Aunt Myra has been a little bit more sharing of her secrets, however, than her father. One of her great-nephews, Mike Gandy recently went to check on Aunt Myra's stove because she said it was not working properly. He said he found a bag of black-eyed peas taped up under the stove top, near one of the eyes. He could tell the bag was very old. When he asked her about the peas, she laughed and claimed, "Yes, Don't touch that! Papa always taught me to keep a bag of peas somewhere hidden in my kitchen.That way if times ever got hard, I would never go hungry." Mike had to repair the stove and save the peas at the same time! Such advice has become priceless to her family and friends. They have continued to pass by her house and see her picking up tree limbs, working in her flower beds, or walking her typical mile a day. Her kind spirit and humble, private nature remind her family of what they should continually practice. Over 70 people gathered on Saturday at Poplar Dell Church for a family-hosted luncheon. Her official birthday is Thursday, Jan. 25. Some relatives traveled from as far as Texas to share in the celebration. Two of Aunt Myra's brothers lived to be over 90. They were Erastus "Rat" and J.L. Her other siblings were Colonel, James "Bud" and sister Eunice.

"I don't expect anyone to make a big deal over me about making it to 100," Aunt Myra shyly told some of her relatives at the celebration. "But I can't remember enjoying something so much. There is nothing like being surrounded by family and special friends!"

Elmira Gandy Crapps, Byrneville's oldest resident.