102, going strong: Morgan County woman celebrates major birthday

By Wendy Lang 

For the Enquirer  

Edna Mae Lipscomb Peck, a lifelong resident of Lacey’s Spring, celebrated her 102nd birthday this past Saturday.  

Peck attended Lacey’s Spring School and Cotaco School. After Cotaco High burned, she spent ninth and 10th grade at Hartselle High, 11th grade at Cotaco Church and her senior year at the rebuilt Cotaco High. 

Peck said she remembers when the only way to cross the Tennessee River into Huntsville was to take a ferry. Later, a toll bridge was built that cost 10 cents each or 25 cents per carload. Peck sat by the ridge on rocks studying her Sunday school lesson.  

In 1932 a tornado struck Lacey’s Spring, killing her neighbors and blowing away three churches. 

Peck married Russell Peck, who worked for the Morgan County Board of Education, in 1938. She worked on the farm, plowing with horses and, later, with a tractor.  

The Pecks attended Pines Baptist Church. They had a daughter, Dannie Sue Peck, three grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. 

Edna Peck began teaching as a substitute for Morgan County Schools in 1970. She taught until she was 82. After retirement, she began attending senior citizens events.  

She is often asked to what she credits her longevity, and she always says, “Hard work and clean living.”