RALEIGH, N.C. — Some people only get better with time. Sam Jones falls into that category.
What You Need To Know
Sam Jones was born October 8, 1916
He survived cancer in the late 1990s and COVID-19 earlier this spring
The centenarian can walk under his own power
Family members drove across the country to see him
Jones celebrated his 105th birthday last Friday, and his family threw him a party on Saturday.
His daughter Barbara Nobles, 77, was one of his children in attendance at the birthday bash.
“God is good! Hallelujah! I know that’s right. We got a lovely, wonderful daddy. There ain’t nothing I wouldn’t do for him,” Nobles said.
Celebrating another year past the century mark at the Hope Mills Shrine Club is no small feat for this centenarian.
Over the past few years, daughter Carolyn Jones said her father has overcome major challenges in these later years of his life.
In the late 1990s, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He beat that. About 20 years later, his wife, Mary Jones, died after 78 years of marriage. He said in April, “I think about her all the time.”
In 2019, he survived surgery for a brain bleed. Then again during the middle of the pandemic in 2021, he contracted COVID-19. Jones entered the Cape Fear Valley Medical Center for seven days due to the coronavirus, but it became another instance where he overcome a health issue.
Jones has lived through the Great Depression, Jim Crow laws in the Deep South, being a sharecropper to pay rent and many other life challenges.
“He love(s) God. He love(s) his children. He love(s) going out. He thinks he’s a teenager. Which is a good thing!” Nobles said.
The father of nine children and grandfather to at least 20 grandchildren is still quite mobile for his age. It’s something he put on display in the spring.
He stood sparingly this fall with family and friends celebrating the fellow they call the king of life. Jones said he is happy to be alive.
“I feel good. Yes sir,” the birthday boy said.
Several members of his large family drove across the country to see him, including Nobles, who lives in New York City.
When they can’t see him in person, Nobles said his relatives call him as much as possible.
"Letting him know that they love him, and that they want to be in his life,” she said.