Betty Ryan took all the hoopla over her in stride.
People hugged her, gave her pecks on the cheek, wished her well from the next table over.
The crowd of 150 seniors gathered for the weekly lunch Wednesday at Baker Senior Center Naples sang her “happy birthday.”
Ryan turns 106 on Saturday. The senior center wasn’t about to let that milestone slide by without cards, flowers and red velvet cake – minus the candles. It’s not the first time the center celebrated her birthday.
Ryan lives with her daughter in Naples, enjoys lunch at Mel’s and Steak ‘n Shake, and spending time with the three family dogs, McGee, Professor Higgins and Duke Ellington.
She was born June 15, 1918, the year of the Spanish flu and a few months before the end of World War I. Woodrow Wilson was president.
She’s lived through World War II with a brother who was at Normandy, and the all the wars since. She got through the next global pandemic of COVID-19 that spanned from 2020 into 2023.
Ryan is among an elite group of centenarians, people 100 and older. Their ranks are increasing in the U.S.