Great-Great-Gran Turns 109

Flossie Carter was a year old when President McKinley was assassinated and 8 years old when Henry Ford rolled out his Model T.

She has witnessed women in America gain the right to vote, watched the Civil Rights Movement unfold and cheered feverishly when Bill Mazeroski hit a homerun against the New York Yankees to win the 1960 World Series for her beloved Pittsburgh Pirates.

Today, however, the only thing she wants to see is cake and ice cream.

She is celebrating her 109th birthday at a senior living residence in Squirrel Hill. And she has a sweet tooth.

"What's your favorite kind of cake, Flossie?" asked Marcy Festa, a certified nurse at UPMC Heritage Place.

"Any kind," Carter responded, grinning and hugging a teddy bear she keeps on her lap.

Born in Opelika, Ala., on June 2, 1900, Carter is the oldest resident ever at Heritage Place, officials there said.

Carter remains alert, self-reliant and in relatively good health, according to family and Heritage staff.

"She just likes to relax," Festa said. "She loves to get her hair brushed. When I brush her hair, she'll say, 'Brush it harder!' "

Though Carter never made it to a Pirates game, she follows them on television and radio, said her daughter, Gurelene Carter, 82, of Homewood.

"Her favorite players were Roberto Clemente and Willie Stargell," Gurelene Carter said. "She loved those big hitters."

Carter lived her first 54 years in Alabama, first in Opelika, a town about 65 miles east of Montgomery, and then in Birmingham. Her husband, Buster, died 73 years ago. She never remarried.

In Alabama, she worked for the Works Project Administration, a New Deal program that provided jobs during the Great Depression.

In the 1950s, she followed her son to Western Pennsylvania when he got a job in a steel mill in Clairton. Her daughters came with her, and Carter looked after their kids while they worked. Before moving into Heritage Place in 2004, Carter lived with her daughter in Homewood.

When asked how her mother has managed to live so long, Gurelene Carter said:

"She's just a good mother, she went to church and she got along with everybody and was a lovely person. And that's about all I can say about that."

Plus, she has never drunk nor smoked and has always treated others how she wanted to be treated, Gurelene Carter said.

Carter has two living children -- a daughter died two years ago -- and 10 grandchildren, 17 great-grandchildren and 30 great-great-grandchildren. Delaine Harris, 62, a granddaughter in Ohio, said family will travel from Alabama, Georgia, Ohio and Pennsylvania for a weekend party at Heritage Place.

"She's an amazing person to be with us still," Harris said. "She keeps us all going."

She has become a favorite resident among staff at Heritage Place.

"Your hair looks pretty," Festa told her, combing her curls.

"Yes, ma'am," Carter responded. "Thank you."

"Tomorrow's your birthday," Festa added. "Sweet 16, huh?"

Carter looked up with a smile. "Bless you," she said.