Nellie Doneva/Reporter-News Cherry Gleason volunteers in the "Granny Squad" at the Law Enforcement Center in this file photo from last year.

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By Loretta Fulton, Special to the Reporter-News

The invitation to Cherry Gleason's birthday party said her 100 years comes out to more than 3 billion seconds.

What the invitation didn't say was that Gleason has lived every one of those seconds to the fullest. Friends and relatives who gathered Saturday in the fellowship hall of Potosi Baptist Church believe in another year those numbers will have to be adjusted.

"She's going to outlive us," said H.T. Gleason, one of three Gleason brothers who attended the party. H.T. was 12 when his father, Howard Gleason, and Cherry were married.

As guests stood in a long line Saturday, waiting to greet Cherry Gleason, she was taking it all in with pleasure and gratitude. Seated in a chair at the back of the fellowship hall, sporting a beautiful dress and a wrist corsage given her by her Sunday School class, Gleason looked like a queen, patiently answering questions from her adoring public.

"I don't hurt anywhere," she said in answer to a question about her health, "except the bottom of my feet."

"Get a job after retirement," she replied in answer to a question about her longevity. "Don't stay home and be a couch potato."

Everyone who knows Gleason — and that includes a sizeable portion of Taylor County residents — can attest to her own refusal to stay home. Even today, despite suffering a broken leg a few years ago and a few other ailments, Gleason is active in the Taylor County Historical Commission and she still occasionally goes to the Abilene Police Department where she is "timekeeper" for the Granny Squad.

The 13 "grannies" volunteer through the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program to help process paperwork at the police department to free up officers. Gleason keeps track of their volunteer hours to report to RSVP.

Keeping meticulous records is a skill Gleason learned as a student at Draughon's Business College in Abilene in the 1930s. She perfected her skills at Camp Barkeley, an Army camp located southwest of Abilene during World War II. She got a job at the camp, first as a secretary and later as chief clerk over the executive supply office.

After the camp closed, she worked for the Abilene Public Library and the U.S. Postal Service, retiring in 1981. Since then, she hardly has sat down long enough to become a couch potato. A favorite pastime is volunteering with the Taylor County Historical Commission, keeping records and helping in the commission archives.

In 2005, she received the Perini Award, given annually by the commission. Anita Lane-McBride, chair of the commission, was one of several commission members present for the birthday party Saturday. She said Gleason's contributions to the commission can't be replicated.

"She has lived most of what we are trying to preserve," Lane-McBride said. "When we talk about Camp Barkeley, she worked there."

Gleason was born Cherry Minga on Aug. 13, 1916. When she was 12, the family moved from Abilene to Littlefield, where her father ran a tourist court, the forerunner to today's motel. After graduating from Littlefield High School in 1934, she left for Draughon's Business College and remained in Abilene after graduating.

Saturday's party was hosted by her family and by members of her Sunday School class at Potosi Baptist Church. Judy Favor, teacher for the Praying Class, said Gleason adds a dimension to the class that is unequaled.

"She has a lot of good wisdom to pass along to everybody," Favor said.

Shirley Goldston isn't a member of the class but a friend who was helping Saturday. Gleason used to have a friend, now deceased, who called her every day at 9 a.m. When the friend died, Goldston took over the calls.

"Cherry outlives everybody," Goldston said, but there always is someone happy to step in.

Ozelma Stratton has been a member of the Praying Class at Potosi Baptist Church for years. Gleason isn't content just to come to the church on Sunday mornings, Stratton said. This summer, Gleason helped register children for Vacation Bible School, not showing any signs of slowing down.

"I told her we're going to see her next year," Stratton said.