Photo by Diane Poole.
Trussville resident Lorene Billups celebrated her 100th birthday on March 7
Trussville resident Lorene Billups celebrated her 100th birthday on March 7.
Lorene Billups was born on March 7, 1926, and grew up during the Great Depression. Raised on the eastern side of Birmingham, she moved frequently as a child because of her father’s job.
“My father was with the railroad, and we moved very often. I was always the new girl,” Billups said.
One of Billups’ earliest memories was helping her mother make sandwiches for her father to take on a trip to California during the Depression.
“He had a car, and cars were unusual,” she said. “He advertised and took a group to California, where there was plenty of work.”
Food was simple back then too.
“During the Depression, we ate a lot of dried beans,” she said. “It was cheap. Anybody could afford it. And I still love my dried beans.”
Technology has evolved dramatically over her lifetime. In her early years, telephones were connected to a “party line.” Now she has her own computer and Facebook page.
Billups has been a member of Huffman United Methodist Church for more than 60 years, and her faith has always been important to her.
“I always turned to God for all my problems. I still do. Practically everything I do all day,” she said.
She outlived both her parents. Her mother died at age 47 of a heart condition and her father died at 62. Her older brother and her younger sister are both gone too.
Billups has one daughter, Pam Floyd, whose husband John was a longtime member of the Trussville City Schools Board of Education. John passed away in 2021. Billups has two grandsons and five great-grandchildren. Her family members all live nearby, and she loves that.
Billups was married to her husband for 64 years.
“I just had the best husband in the world. He thought our daughter and I could do no wrong,” she said.
Her philosophy for longevity was simple.
“I think it’s being busy — staying active. And plenty of beans growing up,” she said with a grin.
Even at 100, Billups enjoys staying busy with hobbies like sewing, gardening, growing orchids, playing cards and going to the senior activity center three days a week.
People often tell her that she doesn’t look her age.
“I'm just like my mother,” she said. “My mother was one of those who got up every morning, fixed her face and put on a clean house dress.”
How does Billups feel about turning 100?
“Oh gosh, it just got here before I knew it.”
And what does she want to tell the younger generation?
“Just be sure and listen to everything they have to say in the classroom … because it’s going to be your future.”
