Agnes Blanche Lyons holds a very special title in the McCooks Pen community in St Catherine. On Thursday, she celebrated her 100th birthday, which makes her its oldest resident. She spent practically all her life in McCooks Pen and it is said that the area was named after her ancestors.

Today, there will be a huge party in her honour and over 100 guests are expected.

She is in good health. Even though she sits in a wheelchair, her doctor has told her that she has the “heart of a lion”.

Lyons needs no medication as she has no ailments. Her only complaints are her weak bones and the memory loss that began to show up when she turned 98. She has had a good life, but there have been moments of sadness.

Fondly called “Granny” or “Nana” by her family, she got married to Ezekia in 1931. Unfortunately, she lost the love of her life 47 years later. Two of her children died at an early age, but she is the proud mother of three boys and three girls who have supplied her with 16 grandchildren and 13 great grandchildren.

Her children fondly remember the days when their mother would fry fish and make bammy every Thursday. They would eat these treats the next day.

“Every Thursday she would fry the fish and the bammy for us to eat, rain or shine,” Beatrice Lyons told the Observer.

She is Lyon’s fourth child and she came, along with the rest of the family from as far away as the United States, England, and Canada to spend a few days with their “Nana”.

One granddaughter, Yvonne Hairne, who lived with the then 70-something Lyons for three years, has her own memories of Lyons reading the newspaper every day. She can also recall the centenarian’s passion for writing letters.

“She used to write her own letters, no matter how long it took,” Hairne said. “Sometimes she would add two lines one day and then another few the next day.”

She also vividly remembers her grandmother getting up in the mornings to wash the clothes she had worn the previous day – and her giving nature.

“Anything she used to eat she would not finish it, she would give me some,” Hairne said.

On Thursday, the day Lyons celebrated her birthday, the phone rang off the hook all day with calls from family and friends who were not able to make the trip to McCooks Pen and wanted to wish Lyons a happy birthday.

For her daughter Beatrice, who did most of the speaking for her mother, it was a fitting tribute to the woman whom she described as loving, but just a little strict.

“She never allowed us to go to any parties and when she sent us to the shop she would send our brother to watch us,” her daughter said. “Sometimes she still says ‘where mi poor pickney dem?’.”

As a former member of the St Joseph Anglican Church, Lyons was an avid church-goer, but she has not been able to attend lately. However, she still asks to be taken to church.

Unlike some elderly persons, Lyons still has a healthy appetite. She likes little treats, Beatrice said.

“She has a very good appetite, she likes things that are tasty and if it is not tasty she doesn’t want it,” she said.

Some of her favourite dishes will likely be provided at today’s party.