CRAWFORD COUNTY, ARKANSAS, Ark. — Not many people get to celebrate their 100th birthday, but one Crawford County man is getting to celebrate his 105th on Sept. 14.
He may look familiar as 5NEWS celebrated his birthday five years ago!
On Wednesday, Thell Ellison turned 105 years old. He’s a man the community adores and admires.
“I just enjoyed my friends and appreciate them and visited them and ate some good cake, so I’ve had a wonderful day,” Ellison said.
Ellison, raised on the banks of Lee Creek in northern Crawford County, is an active master gardener, teaches adult Bible class each week, and enjoys woodworking. He says the keys to a long healthy life are eating clean food and having a happy wife.
“So she cooks two balanced meals a day…and she likes to cook, and I like to eat,” Ellison said.
He and his wife Margie celebrated 81 years of marriage in June and created a family with five children, 14 grandchildren, 34 great-grandchildren, and 30 great-great-grandchildren. The Ellisons live independently in their home, which they built in the 1960s, at Natural Dam.
He says he wants younger couples to remember that love is patient.
“It’s important for each person to have patience…you know we have to consider one another and it’s just through the mercy of the Lord we made it,” Ellison explained.
Ellison is an inspiration to many by living 105 years filled with wisdom, resilience and courage.
“Seek the Lord, and don’t follow the ways of this world. There are two ways, there’s a good way through this life or there’s a bad way and my advice to any young people is to go to church and talk to someone who has experience in something,” Ellison said.
Ellison’s daughter describes him as having a sharp mind and a great memory to share stories of the past.