Grandma Bonnie shares her story ahead of 104th birthday
“Grandma” Bonnie Woods Beatty will turn 104 on June 9, 2024.
She was born June 9, 1920, in Swain County, inside of an abandoned railroad car parked by the side of a creek being used as a temporary shelter.
Bonnie was raised in Bryson City. She tells stories of having to wash clothes in the creek while the clothes would freeze in her hands from the ice-cold water and gathering wood for the cookstove from the shed in the snow and having to use an outhouse year-round.
She cooked everything on a wood stove or an open fireplace.
Times were hard, but Bonnie persevered. Coming from these humble beginnings, she was taught that if you wanted anything in life you had to work hard for it. That said, she was taught you had to work hard and save.
It was always hard to find work in the mountains. Times were endlessly lean. She moved to Belmont in the early 1940s with her family to find work in the textile industry that was booming in the area. It was there she met her husband, Dorman Beatty.
Bonnie and Dorman were married Aug. 14, 1948.
They were married for 44 years before Dorman passed away in 1993. She and Dorman raised five children together in Belmont (decades later the property was annexed by Mount Holly).
They raised Hazel, Louise, James, John and George on what money they could earn from vegetables they could raise and sell on their farm and what they could bring home from their jobs in the textile industry and Dorman’s sawmill side business.
In later years, Dorman worked as a truck driver with the city of Mount Holly for 25 years. Bonnie was particularly proud of him for that.
She was quite surprised and humbled when the new housing development built near her home was named in honor of herself and Dorman. The development was named Beatty Woods Townhomes. One of the streets is named Sweet Bonnie Lane and another is named Dorman Street in honor of them both.
Everyone who meets Bonnie loves her bright personality and her sweet smile and quickly asks to “adopt” her as their honorary grandmother, and she has “adopted” many grands as well.
Bonnie loves spending time with her family. She spoils them with her “Special Biscuits” and cornbread. She makes the best biscuits you have ever put in your mouth, her family says. She's been making them since she was 12 years old. Everyone always asks for a biscuit when they come to visit.
She makes her special banana pudding when she knows her grandchildren are coming for a visit. She has taught her family to love Jesus Christ and each other. If you ask what her secret is to living a long life, she may say it is her diet. She rarely eats any meat. Once a month she may eat a hamburger from the Textile Lanes Grill in Belmont or an all-beef hot dog with French fries. She would rather eat home-cooked meals.
If you ask her family, they may say the secret may be in how Bonnie spends her days. She reads The Bible daily. Bonnie taught them to stop in this fast-paced world and take their eyes off smartphones for a minute (or longer); look at the beauty of God’s creation, and appreciate the beauty of the world around us.
She watches the birds outside her window every day and can identify each one. She feeds the hummingbirds every year and eagerly awaits their arrival every spring. She giggles watching the squirrels run, frolic and play each day.
Bonnie is an avid fan of Tiger Woods, NASCAR and WWE. Six nights per week you will find her glued to the television watching wrestling.
Bonnie has a special place in her heart for children and St. Jude Research Hospital. She encourages everyone she meets to “help those children.”
She has been donating to their research for years.
If you would like to honor Bonnie in any way, she would be grateful if you could send a donation to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital,
PO Box 50, Memphis, TN 38101-9929.
This article was written by Bonnie's family.
This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: Grandma Bonnie shares her story ahead of 104th birthday
