07-03-2025
‘Stay out of trouble. Just do the right thing:' 102-year-old woman's secret to a long life
'Stay out of trouble. Just do the right thing,' said Flossie Pope when asked the secret to living a long life.
Pope turns 102 years old on Saturday, March 8.
She currently lives in Visalia at J & M Elderly Care, where she celebrated her birthday a little early, on Thursday. Pope was surrounded by family, caretakers, hospice nurse, and Visalia Mayor Brett Taylor, to mark the special day. Flowers, cake and gifts helped make the morning festive.
The Visalia City Council and Tulare County's Board of Supervisors honored Pope with certificates of recognition to commemorate and honor her 102 birthday.
When reflecting on how much the world has changed in her lifetime, Pope said, 'The good Lord made it possible for me to live a good life. I've seen too many changes to even remember.'
Pope was born in Imperial, California in 1923. She was the third child out of nine. Her father was a farmer and worked the fields using horses and a plow.
Pope's niece Barbara Booker said that her aunt always worked hard. Pope worked for Sprigs Electric in Visalia for over 20 years.
'I was raised in farming country," Pope said. I didn't even know what a tractor was. We used horses in the fields.'
"She lived a good life," Booker said. "She took care of herself."
Pope and her husband George built and lived in the first adobe home in Tulare for 70 years. The house is still standing on South P Street. She was the mother of one son.
Ginger Grahlman has been Pope's hospice nurse for the last five years, seeing her twice a week.
'Miss Flossie is a kind soul, has a smile that is contagious to anyone who crosses her path. She is full of wisdom, love and positivity,' Grahlman said, 'Flossie's outlook of life is not sweating the small things, just enjoying everyday as it comes, along with a few Werther's Originals.'
This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: Visalia woman turns 102 and shares her secret to living a long life
