Turning 100: Dublinair woman celebrates milestone birthday

One hundred years ago, Calvin Coolidge was the 29th President of the U.S., “The Big Parade” was the top grossing movie, “I’ll See You in My Dreams” was a top song, actor George Kennedy and American novelist Elmore Leonard were born and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” was published in New York.

And on Feb. 25, 1925, Rilla Holloway was born. On Tuesday, Holloway was surrounded by family members and friends as they celebrated her 100th birthday at the Dublinair Health Care & Rehab Center.

“She has seen a lot of things over the years,” said Dublinair activity director Dot Bailey. “She has held up good over the years. She really looks good.”

Family, residents and staff sang “Happy Birthday” to Holloway before they were served cake and ice cream. Holloway’s oldest son, Vernon, his wife, Brenda, her niece, Lazenera Clements, and her nephew, Ricky Rich, along with friend Glenn Johnson, were happy to see her celebrate.

“I just hope to be 100 one of these days, too,” Vernon said. “This is just a big milestone.”

Clements called the birthday party fantastic.

“I keep telling her she’s younger than I am,” Lazenera said. “She doesn’t have anything majorly wrong with her.” 

Rich sat beside his aunt. He was glad to see her 100th birthday.

“I wish I can live that long,” Rich said. “It’s special to be her and be able to celebrate with her.” 

Vernon’s wife Brenda said Holloway got married when she was 14. 

“I married young, too young,” Holloway said when that was brought up. 

Holloway had Vernon when she was 20. He is the only one of her three boys still living. 

“I can’t remember dates, but I remember when he was born,” Holloway said pointing at Vernon. 

Holloway and her husband, David, grew up in North Carolina before moving to Dublin in the 1950s.

“Her husband came here as a carpenter,” Brenda said. “He did that for a while before going to work at Bassett Furniture. They would give him scraps. When we went over to their house he would show us what he was building.” 

Brenda said her mother lived to be 94, so it was great to see her mother-in-law reach this milestone.

“There is a lot of longevity in both of our families,” Brenda said.

Johnson got to know Holloway when his daughter and wife shared a room with her at Dublinair. Besides that, he was also her mailman in the 1980s.

“He’s a really good friend to me, too,” Holloway said.

Johnson would like to reach 100 one day.

“It’s amazing,” he said about her 100th birthday. “I’m 13 years behind her. I want her to be around when I hit 100. My daughter and my wife roomed with (Holloway) here. My daughter was here from 2015 to 2018 when she died, and then my wife came in and was in there until 2023. We got to know each other a little bit.” 

Holloway has been at Dublinair for the last five to seven years. When asked about the changes she has seen, Holloway said she grew up during the Depression.

“It was hard to get a hold of a penny,” she said. “My brother had an old pickup and we would pile in the back of it and go to church. On Sunday afternoon, all of the young people would gather and we would play games.”