Brian D. King | Daily PressAnnabelle Ratliff says a healthy lifestyle has extended her years.

Annabelle Ratliff’s T-shirt reads, “105: Survivor of not 1 but 2 pandemics.”

She was born on Aug. 26, 1916, one day after Woodrow Wilson signed legislation creating the National Park Service. The United States had nearly declared war against Germany in World War I, and the first toggle light switch was invented by William J. Newton and Morris Goldberg.

When she was 2 years old, World War I came to a halt after the outbreak of the influenza pandemic of 1918. Annabelle Erma Stevens was born in Iron Chapel Church in McClain County and was one of six children. She met Marvin Jackson Ratliff at church and married him on May 17, 1940. Together, they had two children before he passed away in 1998.

During World War II, Ratliff worked in an airplane factory and served as a caregiver, homemaker, and a mother.

“She’s still pretty strong-minded. She and dad were married 58 years before he passed away. They got to go to Hawaii on their 50th anniversary,” said her daughter, Linda Kay Foreman.

When she was young, she traveled by horse and buggy and used kerosene lamps.

“She talks about picking cotton when her dad lived on the creek. She always grew cotton. It was a big part of what my grandpa did to make a living,” said Foreman.

Ratliff moved to Colorado to grow wheat with her husband and children. Foreman described her as a capable woman who could do anything at home or on the farm.

“We had a two-room house and we leased 1,000 acres of farmland. She would cook everything from scratch. The boys would come on for the wheat harvest. Mom and I did all the cooking. We’d wring chickens’ necks, pluck them, and fry them,” Foreman said.

She was also a seamstress and could make any item of clothing her family needed.

Annabelle and Marvin retired from farming and moved to Cherokee County to become real estate agents. Her family lives in Locust Grove, but she now resides in a nursing home in Tahlequah.

Though her hearing is not what it used to be, her mind is still sharp, and she loves to tell dirty jokes.

She used to be an avid reader and would consume an entire book in one sitting. She makes her caregivers laugh because of her quick wit.

When asked about her birthday, she answered with a grin, “It wasn’t always easy to stay alive; tell them I died happy.”

To this day, she still exercises every day on her pedal exerciser. She credits her longevity to working out and a healthy lifestyle.

“I drink a quart of water every day,” said Ratliff.