A lifelong Walton woman will celebrate her 100th birthday, Monday, March 23, planning to spend time alongside neighbors, family and friends.
Dorothy Brizzee, who has lived on Mormon Hollow Road her entire life, will blow out her 100th birthday candle next week. Her daughter, Jean Humphries, said Brizzee grew up on a farm up the road from where she lives now. She had three children; a son and two daughters. Brizzee was married on Christmas Day in 1946 to her husband, Frank Brizzee.
Brizzee said she did not know how she had lived so long.
“It must be in my genes,” she said.
Her sisters lived to their 90s, Humphries said.
To celebrate the big day, loved ones will be joining Brizzee throughout the weekend, Humphries said. She said Brizzee’s granddaughter and her kids would be at the home Saturday, her grandsons and their kids would visit Sunday and neighbors and friends would celebrate with her Monday. Humphries, who now lives in Shenandoah County, Virginia, said she was planning a spaghetti dinner for the day. She drove up to spend the weekend with her mother.
“There’s always a neighbor or a friend stopping by, and the phone rings nonstop,” Humphries said.
Growing up on the farm, Brizzee said, she would help milk the cows by hand.
Brizzee graduated from a school house at the end of the road, with eight grades learning in one room, in six years. She then transferred to Deposit Central School, where she graduated in 1942. To get to the schoolhouse, Brizzee would either walk or ride on a milk truck.
Humphries said that during World War II, Brizzee worked at Scintilla, a manufacturing company in Sidney, for a few years.
Humphries said Brizzee played the piano by ear at Trout Creek Community Church until her 90s. Brizzee said she played piano for all of her life but never took any lessons. Humphries added that Brizzee met her husband while square dancing in Deposit.
“We liked to dance, my husband and I,” Brizzee said.
Today, Brizzee said, she designates specific chores for different days of the week. She said Monday is wash day, Tuesday is a free day, Wednesday she takes the garbage out, Thursday, she cleans bathrooms and Friday and Saturdays she vacuums.
It was a “big surprise,” that she would be able to celebrate her mother’s 100th birthday with her, Humphries said.
“Nobody knew that she would live this long,” Humphries said. “You never know how long you are going to live. She’s been healthy all of her life.”
Having been raised in a very isolated area, there was not always a lot to do growing up, Humphries said. She said she and her siblings would ride their bikes to Trout Creek to meet friends. They also worked on family members’ farms.
“We live pretty quiet back here in the country,” Brizzee said.
Humphries said attending the Delaware County fair as a 4-H kid was a nice memory of her time growing up in the Walton area.
“I’m grateful,” Humphries said. “I call her every night, 8 p.m. sharp. If I am one minute late, I hear about it.”