By Betsy Brewer Brantner
Contributing Writer

Bonnie Barlow turned 100 years old on August 8, 2024. She enjoyed a beautiful birthday party at Luther House, where it was standing-room-only for the festive celebration.

One of her friends, Marie Sweeney, was quick to say, “The best thing about Bonnie is, she is still Bonnie.” 

And if you ask any of the friends she has made in the 14 years she has lived at Luther House, they would all quickly agree.

One of the first things you notice about Bonnie is her beautiful smile. According to her daughter Shirley, she is seldom seen when she is not smiling. That is what her friends at Luther see. Smiling just seems second nature to her, and she does give everyone around her a smile to make their day brighter.

A cheery disposition has helped her through every obstacle in her life. She freely gave that good cheer to the hundreds of residents that she cared for at Pocopson Home. She worked as a nurses aide for 32 years, and certainly made every day brighter for anyone else that worked there.

Bonnie and her late husband were part of the “Greatest Generation.”  As such, they were born between 1901 and 1927. They lived through the Great Depression and the 1940s, and many of them fought or helped with the war effort during World War II. 

The term, Greatest Generation, was also highlighted by a 1998 book of the same name by American journalist Tom Brokaw. In that book, Brokaw profiled American members of this generation who came of age during the Great Depression and went on to fight in World War II, as well as those who contributed to the war effort on the home front. Brokaw wrote that, “These men and women didn’t fight for fame or recognition, but because it was the "right thing to do.”

Doing what was right might seem like an alien concept today, but back then doing the right thing was what you did. For instance, there was always a plate available at Bonnie’s table for anyone that stopped by. There was no need to call ahead to visit and you could always count on being served whatever food was available. Bonnie gave her all to those she cared for at Pocopson, and for her husband and three daughters.

There were eight people in her family that grew up in Ashe County, N.C.. Having been born on August 8, 1924, she was born just after the 1917 Spanish Flu Pandemic was ending and survived the Covid-19 pandemic nearly 100 years later.

They also experienced much of their youth with rapid technological innovation including the radio, telephone, and automobile. They also lived at a time of growing levels of worldwide income inequality and an unpredictable economy. After the stock market crashed and the economy stumbled, this generation experienced profound economic and social turmoil.

Despite those hardships, or because of them, literature, arts, music, and cinema of the period flourished. This generation experienced what is commonly referred to as the "Golden Age of Hollywood.”

Like the saying goes, “What doesn’t kill you will make you stronger.” Bonnie was a strong woman, as so many women had to be during that era. Many women were called to work during World War II because the men were fighting a war, but when the men came home from the war, women stepped aside and came back to serve on the home front.

Shirley remembers her mother as being “Forgiving and loving.”

Bonnie has enjoyed her life, and she really liked quilting and other crafts, and staying in her camper in Florida. She still enjoys her life at Luther House, occasionally enjoying a rousing game of Bingo, a holiday meal, or celebrating someone else’s birthday.

The smile captured on her face at her 100th birthday party says it all: life is still fun and Bonnie is still Bonnie. 

To her many friends at Luther that is important and that is her ongoing gift to them – just being Bonnie.