Dorothy Lake celebrated her 93rd birthday with members of Neel Senior Center on April 20. | Clif Knight

Clif Knight

Hartselle Enquirer

Age is no barrier to Dorothy Lake when it comes to getting things done.

The 93-year-old Neel resident still mows her yard, grows a garden, does her own housework and takes considerable pleasure in driving her own car, a sporty 2013 Honda

Accord.

She observed her 93rd birthday Wed., April 20, in the company of close friends and fellow members at Neel Senior Center. Other birthday honorees recognized were Hershel Martin, 91; and Mavene Holt, 80.

“She’s feisty for her age,” said NSC director Valerie Thrasher. “I don’t know if she has ever faced anything she couldn’t do.”

“I consider myself fortunate to be able to take care of myself and have the support of a loving family,” said the widow of Harold Lake, who died in 1972. All three of my children called or dropped by this morning to wish me a happy birthday.”

Mrs. Lake attributes her long life to hard work and Christian faith.

“I was raised on a farm in the Basham community with four siblings,” she recalled. “We all had chores to do and there was always plenty of work to keep us busy. Hard work was a way of life. I still prefer to be outside working.”

She is her family’s sole survivor. An older sister passed away two years ago at age 93.

Mrs. Lake said her faith in Christ plays an important part in her daily life. She has been a member of Neel Church of Christ for 67 years.

A regular member at the senior center, she said she enjoys friendship and fellowship of being in the company of other members and sharing a noontime meal on weekdays.

Good health is something Mrs. Lake has had all her life.

“I still go see my doctor, take the pills he prescribes and go right on doing what I need to do and like to do,” she pointed out. “My children have expressed concerns about my gardening this year so I’m going to cut back. I plan to have three or four tomato plants, a couple of squash vines and a row of okra eight feet long.”

Mrs. Lake left public school after the sixth grade to devote more time to work that needed to be done on the family farm; however, it didn’t quench her thirst for learning.

“I did a lot of reading and practiced math skills on my own,” she said.

She married just before she reached the age of 21 and she and her husband built a home in Neel. She recently built a new home nearby. She worked at the Alabama Hosiery Mill in Decatur during World War II as a seamstress, and was later employed at United Stage Equipment in Hartselle for 20 years.
Mrs. Lake has three children, three grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

Her advice to young married couples: Live for each other.