By Barry Carter | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

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Ethel Bethea, 109, at her birthday party in West Orange at the Residence Inn. (Barry Carter | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

Ethel Bethea knew the party was for her when the elevator doors opened.

Family and friends, some from as far as Florida and France, were clapping for Bethea as she was wheeled into the lounge area at the Residence Inn in West Orange.

Bethea, wearing a sky-blue dress, silver hat and a joyous smile, sat up in the wheelchair pointing out folks she knew and was surprised to see.

“Glad y’all could come," she said.

They were, too. Not many folks get to attend a birthday celebration for someone who just turned 109. That’s right. She was born in 1909.

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A surprised Ethel Bethea, 109, points toward people she knows during her birthday party. (Barry Carter | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

There's been several centenarians on my radar lately. Malcolm Nettingham, a 100-year-old Tuskegee Airman in Scotch Plains, hit the milestone Oct. 1. After writing about his place in American history, Bethea's milestone on October 20 reached my ears through her granddaughter, Adrienne Wilson of Newark. I then learned about Mae Allgood, a talkative Newark woman whose 100-year old birthday was the same weekend as Bethea. Pollie Miller, also of Newark, hit the triple digit mark Oct. 17.

Nettingham had a lot to say about longevity, but it’s the ladies turn now to chime in about why they’re with us and what we all should be doing to age like them.

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Mae Allgood, 100, at the Stratford Manor Rehabilitation & Care Center in West Orange. (Barry Carter | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

Bethea: Do unto others

“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you," said Bethea, who resides at the Stratford Manor Rehabilitation & Care Center in West Orange. “This would be a beautiful world."

The youngest of 12 siblings – she’s the only one left – Bethea was raised by her mother and father, a Methodist minister who owned land in Dawson, Georgia before he fled to Newark with the family.

“A white man messed with my sister, and my father beat him up," Bethea said.

Fearing retaliation, the family headed north, settling in Newark, where Bethea made her mark as a socialite and first woman vice president of the Newark chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

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Pollie Miller, 100, of Newark, at her birthday party in Newark. (Courtesy)

Socially conscious, Bethea, a 1927 graduate of Central High School, worked with Stella Wright, a social worker who founded the Friendly Fuld Neighborhood House and had a housing authority development bear her name until it was demolished in 1994.

Bethea knew a lot of people in Newark's prominent circles, including the late Charles and Marie Whigham of Whigham Funeral Home in Newark.

“Mother stayed busy," said Shirley Hobbs, her 85-year-old daughter and North Brunswick resident.

Bethea worked on the assembly line at General Electric in Newark. Married twice and outliving both husbands, Bethea had three children. For many years, though, Bethea also was a "baby nurse," which would be considered a nanny today.

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Newark South Ward Councilman John James presents Ethel Bethea with a resolution from the city council. (Barry Carter | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

“I helped give them a good start in life, so they would be healthy."

All the while, though, she took care of herself -- another bit of advice for us. Bethea never ate seconds, and didn’t overindulge with alcohol.

“You’re crazy if you get drunk," she said.

She said she was always in control -- self-discipline that Bethea believes everyone should exercise.

“You don’t’ go around having sex with everybody," Bethea said.

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Ethel Bethea, (right), with her daughter, Shirley Hobbs, 85, (left). (Barry Carter | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

Bethea doesn’t have any regrets. She doesn’t feel old, she said. Only blessed.

“Life is good, life is bad," she sang, her voice straining just a bit. “They don’t care what you say about life. It’s beautiful."

And, she stayed true to her faith, helping those in need.

“God saw fit to keep me because I have been good to a lot of people," Bethea said.

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Allgood: Be generous

In the two Newark homes that she owned, Mae Allgood was just as generous to people who were struggling. If they had no place to stay, Allgood said she’d take them in at her homes on South 10th Street and on Weequahic Avenue.

“I always helped the people," said Allgood, who now lives at the South Mountain Healthcare & Rehabilitation Center in Vauxhall.

She doesn’t know why she’s still alive, but like Bethea, Allgood said she is glad to be here.

“I never thought about it," said Allgood, who did laundry work for a living. “I was just doing my thing."

Allgood, who liked to entertain, said she ate healthy foods and didn’t mind taking a shot or two of corn liquor back in the day. She laughs about that, and the mistake she made picking her first husband.

“I went for the looks," she said. “He was a playboy."

With her second husband, Allgood said she got it right. He had a job in construction.

“I wised up."

Through it all, though, Allgood said she has enjoyed her life and leaves us with this added ingredient for happiness.

“Go on and do what you want to do," she said.

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Miller: Grow a garden

Miller was quiet and soft-spoken as she sat in the Newark home of her daughter, Eddie Mae Picket. In the days leading up to her birthday, Picket, 78, said her mom for some reason was having doubts that she would make it to 100.

Miller, however, said differently recently.

“I’m happy to see a 100," she said.

Miller, one of 13 siblings, lived a simple life in Newark when she moved here in 1954 from Louisville, Mississippi, leaving there as a farm worker picking cotton. In Newark, she found work in local factories, including one that made toys and another that produced beach chairs.

Picket said her mom had her own garden, one of the reasons she’s lived so long. It runs in the family, too. Miller's sister, who still lives in Mississippi, is 103. Her brother is 98.

“I think I’ve lived a good life," she said.

All three of you have.

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Barry Carter may be reached at bcarter@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @BarryCarterSL. Find NJ.com on Facebook.