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Linden resident Mary Green turned 100 years old on Thursday, August 6, and celebrated the day with her family and the staff at Marengo Nursing Home.

Mary was born on August 6, 1920, in Prattville, Alabama. She is the second oldest of nine children born to Georgianna Gracie Braxton and Hobert Braxton. She has one son who lives in Nevada, two grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.

The family celebrated the milestone event with a birthday celebration Thursday. Family and friends paraded through the parking with well-wishes for Mary before gathering to sing “Happy Birthday.”

Mary is a beloved member of her family and is viewed more as a grandmother than an aunt to her nieces and nephews. She helped raise her sister’s seven children and was always ready to step in and help wherever she was needed.

“There is nothing we’ve ever asked of her that she didn’t deliver on,” said Sharon Moore, a niece of Mary Green. “She’s a sweet, kind-hearted person who would do anything for you or anybody if she could do it. She’s one of God’s angels.”

Moore said her aunt’s secret to living to 100 is living for Jesus. Her faith played a crucial role in how she lived her life as it helped her through the good times and the bad. She always tried to do the right thing for her family and others, and her family believes that the Lord blessed her because of her kind heart.

Her nephew, Will Green Jr., wrote the following for his aunt’s special day. “Good, she’s that. Better, she’s that also. Best, she’s the friend I know like that. Also love like that. Cookies and cakes every birthday and holiday. Thanks.  Spiritual maturity is not reached by the passing of years, but by the obedience to the will of God.”