The Fayette Citizen-Prime Timers Page
Wednesday, April 7, 1999
Ms. Nettie Knight is 102

Ms. Nettie Knight is 102, she's doing "alright" and she loves to be in the newspaper. Knight celebrated her 102nd birthday on April 1st at Southland Nursing Home in Peachtree City in style. She was dressed and ready to enjoy her special day before 9 a.m. on Thursday.

Knight was born in 1897 and lived in Whitesville, Georgia near Pine Mountain until suffering from a stroke. She has been a resident of Southland Nursing Home for four years. Knight says she is happy at Southland, "I like the people here, they're nice to me."

According to Lucille Campbell, Social Services Assistant at Southland, "Nettie is spoiled rotten by the staff and the residents. It's because she is so lovable and such a sweet person - she's always smiling and pleasant. She watches the other residents and if she sees a problem, she gets a staff member."

Knight keeps the staff in line at Southland. She momentarily kept a serious face and said, "I make them mind me all the time." Then she broke out in her shy smile letting everyone know she wasn't being too serious.

Angie Brown, Southland Activity Director, noted, "She has a very outgoing personality and loves to joke and cut up with the staff. But at times she can be real shy."

Knight takes part in most of the activities at Southland. She likes Bible study, arts and crafts, birthday parties, children's programs and pet therapy. Knight is a cat lover and misses her cats.

Knight has participated in the Southland Beauty Pageant for the past two years, and was a runner up in the 1999 contest. She is a Braves baseball fan and did the "Dirty Bird" for the audience at the recent pageant.

She also enjoys going on shopping trips with others from Southland. She smiled and said, "When they give me some money, I go shopping."

Asked about her life she quipped, "I run my mouth too much, but I've never really done anything bad in my life or I wouldn't be here now."

She married Erskine Knight at the age of 13. He was also 13. The couple were married for 66 years and had three sons, Lewis, Emerson and Charlie, and a daughter, Lillian Moss. All of her children currently live in the Atlanta area. She says she has "about 30 grandchildren." When asked how many great-grandchildren she had she raised her eyes to the ceiling and said, "Oh my lord, I can't count them." She has sixty great-grandchildren, five great-great-grandchildren and three great-great-great-grandchildren.

Knight worked as a cook, cleaned a doctor's house and was a care-giver in the Whitesville area. She was a member of the Rose Chapel United Methodist Church and has "always been a Methodist."

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