Opportunities Inc. residential client Clara Allen turns 100 today.
Born on May 24, 1920, in New Hamburg, Missouri, she was raised by her parents and had a sister and two brothers. At the age of 6, Allen's family moved from Missouri to Texarkana, where her father worked at Dickey Clay. They returned to Missouri for a few years but settled in Texarkana when she was 16. She has lived in Texarkana ever since.
A friend introduced Allen to Freddy at the age of 18. After dating about one year, the couple married. Allen gave birth to four children, though she only raised two; two were buried in infancy. Freddy died in 1977 after 38 years of marriage. Clara was only 57 at the time of Freddy's death, but she never remarried.
She had only a seventh-grade education and after Freddy's death, took a job working at the snack counter at a local hospital. When that closed, she went to work in a kitchen and later retired from the "pickle plant," according to a news release.
Allen has nine grandchildren and "too many great-grandchildren to keep up."
When asked why she thought she had lived so long, Allen attributes that to God's grace and adds, "I guess God just does not need me yet."
- From Opportunities Inc.