A resident of the Jamison community recently celebrated her 101st birthday.

Virginia Whaley Smith credits the Lord for her strength and for all of the good things that have happened in her life.

“Life was not easy all of the time, but God saw fit to allow me to work hard, have shelter, good friends, great caretakers and a good family,” Smith said.

Smith left home at the age of 25 after attending South Carolina State College. She notes that when she left home, her goals were to seek a church where she could serve God and to find a job. She lived in New York for 40 years before returning to Jamison, and while in New York, she worked in nursing homes. She was also a foster parent.

The wife of the late Rodney Smith and daughter of the late Jimmy and Rosa Whaley, Smith is a member of Union Chapel Baptist Church in Jamison. She has two children, Jimmy Smith of Orangeburg and Brenda Kelly Gibbs of Brooklyn, N.Y., and five grandchildren and two great-grands. Smith, one of six children, has two surviving sisters, Maggie Rickenbacker of Orangeburg and Willie Dean Whaley of Conway.

As for the key to her longevity, Smith says all the credit goes to “Jesus Christ.”

“We should all seek his will in our lives,” she said.

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