Willie Tebeau said that her husband, Troy Pendleton Teabeau, told her he fell in love with her because she “always seemed to be of a good humor.”

“And it seems like it is,” she said. “I manage to see the good side in people. Most any situation could be worse. I try to be pleasant.”

This quality in Effingham’s beloved native daughter seems to run throughout the county.

“It seems like the people are always nice to you,” said Tebeau of what makes Effingham so special. “You go to the store and the clerks are always nice and friendly.”

Today, Dec. 27, Tebeau — or “Mrs. Willie” as she’s affectionately known — is celebrating her 102nd birthday, and she reflected on her life and the many changes she’s seen in Effingham County.

A caregiver to many around the county and a self-described “health nut,” Mrs. Willie said she’s always felt right at home in Effingham, always a “homebody,” and that she’s truly enjoyed her long life.

“I’ve always enjoyed the changes that have taken place in my life; seems like it never upset me,” she said. “…I have really enjoyed all I’ve ever done.”

‘Country children’

Born Willamina Isabel Kieffer, Tebeau grew up on Springfield-Clyo Road to a farming family with five sisters and two brothers, although one of the boys and one of the girls died as infants.

She remembers walking to Effingham Academy, which was near what are now Ulmer Park and the Treutlen Building in Springfield, and said she loved going to school.

“I remember when the armistice was signed for the First World War — I was in either the third or fourth grade. We were at school when the word came, so the principal had the whole school march up and down the street in Springfield. He said, ‘Anything you can find to make a noise, get it; we’re going to celebrate.’ And that was the first World War.”

She said she was like a brother to her brother and that they would go fishing and possum hunting, when she wasn’t doing chores in the fields and around the house, solidifying her love for the outdoors.

She said that when she graduated from school, finishing the 11th grade, she did so with about 20 other students, making that the largest class to graduate from the school to that point.

“I remember when I graduated, I cried for a couple of days,” said Tebeau. “Back then, that was about all the activity you had with anyone else was at school or Sunday school. There was no clubs, no organizations, nothing like that.

“Most children were what you called ‘country children’ and they all had household chores or yard chores when they got home. They didn’t spend their time in front of a TV screen; you were outside, you were active.”

At 16, however, Mrs. Willie became a school teacher herself in Guyton, after a Sunday school teacher recommended her. She taught for four years before her marriage on Christmas Eve 1932.

Kind of special

Mrs. Willie was mother to three children, Lee Ellen Hanberry, also a mother of three, Jo Louisa Tebeau and her son, John Tebeau, who lives with her now.

She said that she loves to cook and sew and work in the yard and spent much of her time as a full-time homemaker.

“Oh my, I’ve spent a lifetime taking care of people,” she said of her children, grandchildren and many others.

Her home now is a testament of how well she takes care of things, with pieces of her grandmother’s furniture more than 100 years old and other hand-me-downs and older pieces surviving as if barely used.

She also worked a number of part-time jobs including working at the B&B grocery store in Springfield, as a Pink Lady at the hospital and substitute teaching in the schools.

Although she was a member of Bethel Lutheran, Tebeau has been a member of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Springfield since her marriage. Small plaques adorn her hallway, honoring her as the oldest participant at the annual countywide Sunday school meeting.

Last year, Mrs. Willie helped place the new cornerstone/time capsule to the newly restored Effingham County Historic Courthouse. Her uncle had placed the first cornerstone/time capsule as the chairman of the county commission.

“And I was his oldest relative, so I got to put it back in,” she said. “It was kind of special, I guess you would say.”

The best of all circumstances

Mrs. Willie Tebeau attributes her longevity to being an early riser and to a wholesome, vegetable-heavy diet.

“Early to bed and early to rise,” she said, laughing. “Seems like all my life, I’ve gotten up at six o’clock and gone to bed at 10.”

She said that since gaining weight, after having her appendix removed at 17, she’s always been careful about her diet.

“And when I got a good look at myself I said I don’t want to look like this the rest of my life,” she said. “So I’ve been counting calories nearly all my life. And I do like healthy food. I love all kinds of vegetables.”

She also said that she and her sister-in-law would walk two or more miles every day for 20 years to stay healthy.

She said she’s always been an avid reader, always subscribing to the Effingham Herald and The Progressive Farmer, among others.

“Now they don’t go break the ground up first,” she said, marveling at how she’s seen agriculture techniques evolve. “They just go out and plant the rows, and used to, that ground had to be turned. It was planted and all the grass had to be pulled out. Just about everybody had to work in the fields, Mama and Daddy and all the children.”

She said that some of the changes in Effingham during her life have been having indoor bathrooms, running water, electricity and everyone having a television. But the biggest to her was medicinal advancement.

“Because I had one brother,” she said of the brother she once fished with, “and we lost him at the age of 25 before sulfa and penicillin were invented. And look what they’ve got for drugs. They don’t even use sulfa and penicillin anymore much, I don’t think.”

She also said that technology has advanced beyond her, with computers and the Internet, and she’s thankful to have her son to help her out.

Tebeau said: “I didn’t grow up with computers and when they got prevalent, I figured I wouldn’t learn how to operate them. So I’ve never had any computer experience. And I do get kind of disappointed when I’m reading in the paper and you want to know a little more and you’ve got to go to ‘dot com.’”

For Mrs. Willie Tebeau, the greatest life lesson she’s learned is: “Make the best of all circumstances, don’t you guess?” she said.

“Look on the bright side and make the best of what comes along.”