East Cobb centenarian welcomes 100 with style
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Sep. 27—EAST COBB — Two children, four grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren, two great-great-grandchildren and, of course, a whole host of friends from her Sunday school — Elizabeth Mitchell, clad in a tiara and a sash that read "Birthday Princess," took in the scene of her 100th birthday party from her mini-throne in the lobby of Eastside Baptist Church Sunday afternoon.
"I never dreamed there'd be this many people," she said during a break from posing for pictures. "It feels great. You know, it makes you feel good to know you have friends that can help you celebrate."
Despite joining the rarefied rank of centenarian, Mitchell hasn't slowed down much, friends and family said.
"You know, some old people just kind of retire, they get into this retirement mode, and she just never has," Joy Rhodes, her Sunday school teacher, said.
In her late 90s, Mitchell was still driving up Interstate-75 to visit her daughter, Sandra Drummond, in Cartersville; to this day, she is unbeatable at Rummikub, her friend Carol Garrow said.
Born in Canton in 1921, Mitchell worked at Marietta's Bell Bomber plant — the facility that would eventually become Lockheed Martin — during World War II, Drummond said. She later worked at a Sears off Roswell Road and retired from her job there after 30 years.
Mitchell bought her east Cobb home in 1956. It was within walking distance of the site that would later become Eastside Baptist, of which she is a charter member — meaning she and her family, along with six or seven others, were among its founding members in the early 1960s.
Rhodes has known Mitchell since 1995, when she became Sunday school teacher of the senior ladies' class. Among her favorite things about her longtime student, in addition to her vitality and dedication to the church, is that one never had to wonder what was on her mind. Mitchell's tell-it-like-it-is attitude didn't spare her fellow congregants, Rhodes said.
"She would comment on all the old (church) people, how they'd park crooked," Rhodes said with a laugh. "I would come in, and I would know that was her car — it was always straight."
