A local Brown County women will celebrate her centenarian birthday. Clara “Bay” Crawley-Webb, born June 8th, 1924, is celebrating her 100th birthday with her family, friends and loved ones this weekend.
This is an amazing feat as only 3% of the United States population has achieved this milestone.
Clara, who was born in Tennessee, moved to Texas and Brown County, specifically Bangs, in the early 70’s to settle down with her Husband Eddie Lee Webb and their children. She remained in Brown County for a better part of 50 years, until she relocated to Austin with her three remaining children in the last year.
Her Great-Grandson, Councilman Draco Miller Jr,. stated that “Granny is the heartbeat of our family. We are blessed that the Lord saw fit for her to reach the milestone of 100 years. Granny has seen a lot in her day, I couldn’t imagine all the things she’s endured in these 100 years. I can say without question, God has seen her through it all. As a kid and adult, I loved going to the country to see granny, even though she was going to put you to work. You couldn’t just come out to sit, you had to put in some hours of work first. Afterwards she always made you a hot meal. Spending time with her listening to the old stories and looking through album after album meant the world to me.”
For many years until her retirement, she worked as a nurse. After retiring, she never slowed down, while in Bangs, Clara enjoyed tooling around in her garden, feeding her chickens, canning vegetables, and going to church. Into her mid-90’s Clara still enjoyed working around her house and in her yard.
Faith is a big part of who Clara is. She has been a prayer warrior for her family, church and friends for over 50 years, she reads her bible daily, and still attends bible study groups on Monday and Tuesday’s.
Two things the family knew when they went to the “country” to see her, one, you were going to work in the yard and pasture a full day and two, you were going to get the word of the Lord.
When asked what she thought the secret to a long life was, she stated, “Well I really don’t know, I guess all these years, God just wasn’t through with me yet, there was more for me to do. God is the reason I’ve been able to live this long.”
Clara has seen decade after decade come and go. She has seen new generations of her family emerge; great, great, great grandchildren, and many of the older generation pass on. She has one remaining sibling living, who still resides in Eads, TN, she is in her late 90’s.
She can remember not having indoor plumbing or electricity to now operating a smart phone. From model T cars to now self-driving smart cars, switch operators to cell phones, Clara has seen a lot in her 100 years.
When asked what advice she would give people, Clara said, “First and foremost, make sure you have a relationship with God, he is the only true way to salvation and secondly, treat people with respect and dignity.” She’s happy to have lived this long but admits it hasn’t been easy, but through it all, she’s kept her faith and that’s given her the strength to make it.
Family members from Tennessee, Arkansas and Texas will come to Brownwood to take part in her 100th Birthday celebration.
Happy 100th Birthday Clara “Bay” Crawley-Webb
Fun facts about the year 1924:
- Calvin Coolidge was president
- A gallon of Milk cost 28 cents
- Automobiles ranged from $109 to $264
- A dozen eggs cost 25 cents
- Average house cost $2,500 to $3k
- Wheaties cereal and Milky way candy bar were introduced
- IBM was founded
- Loud Speaker
- Notebooks with spiral rings
- Kleenex tissues
- Band-Aides