DAPHNE, Ala. — Margaret Ratcliffe celebrated her 100th birthday with family and friends Sunday at The Gardens of Daphne Assisted Living Home.

Festivities included cake, food, refreshments and a pianist. The home and the Ratcliffe family organized the party to celebrate Margaret’s life and memories. Margaret’s grandchildren and great-grandchildren made a “100 Things We Love about Mimi” board.

Trudi Hume, the home’s administrator, offered her own credits.

“She’s smart,” Hume said. “She’s legally blind and a bit hard of hearing, but nothing slows her down. She’s a true southern lady, too.”

The guest of honor was grateful for the occasion and said she anticipates many similar celebrations.

“I want you to have this every year for me,” she said.

Life and works

Margaret was born Aug. 29, 1910 in Natchez, Miss. She, her husband Charles and their son Charles Jr. moved to Mobile in 1945.

She served as youth director of Saint Francis United Methodist Church and became a charter member of Saint Mark United Methodist Church.

She is an honorary board member of the Wesley Foundation, a Methodist group on the University of South Alabama campus. She is also a board member of the Dumas Wesley community center. She is still a member of the Philanthropic Educational Organization, a sisterhood of 350,000 members that provides scholarships and loans for women’s education.

She has visited 15 countries, including China, Japan and Israel.

Her relatives include a son and his wife, three grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

She lived on her own until having a heart attack in January. She has been a Gardens resident since then.

(Staff video by Devin R. Golden; edited by Thomas Boni)