Berkeley woman going strong after 103 years

Sarah Brown Adkinson still can remember when there were no paved roads and only one doctor to serve all of Alvin, a small rural town on the outskirts of Berkeley County.

Adkinson was born Dec. 4, 1904, not long after the turn of the 20th century. Theodore Roosevelt was president.

Adkinson is 103 years old.

Hard work in the fields of Alvin and singing in the church choir color her still-sharp memory. Even as she sits in her wheelchair, Adkinson's speech is vibrant and marked by frequent short bursts of laughter.

She was born to David and Victoria Hawkins. Her father was a sharecropper, and her mother worked in the homes of white families.

The second oldest of six children, Adkinson, now of St. Stephen, was given to hard work even as a young girl. She had to leave school while she was very young to work in the tobacco, cotton and cornfields of Alvin to help support her family.

She was just 17 when her father died after a three-month illness. That was difficult time for Adkinson, who had to take on more work to help support the family. That was also around the time her first child was born. Altogether, she had four children.

"I've done some hard work in my life," she said. "Hard work don't kill me."

In the 1940s, she married childhood friend Edward Adkinson. Over the years, she has lived a relatively quiet life, traveling outside South Carolina just twice: once to Maryland for a church trip and once to North Carolina to visit a relative.

Holly Hill Christian Church off S.C. Highway 45 in Alvin still is a focal point in Adkinson's long life. She was a missionary, served on the pulpit aid committee, ushered and directed the choir there for nearly 30 years.

Every Sunday, she brought the preacher home and served him dinner. She always saved the best parts of the chicken for him, recalled Adkinson's son, Melvin Brown, who now lives in Marion Manor in St. Stephen, the same apartment complex as his mother.

For many years, Adkinson and her church choir traveled around the state for "singings." For health reasons, she no longer is as active in church work. She misses those days, going from church to church for one program or another.

Adkinson recently has grown more concerned about the lives of youths in the Lowcountry and abroad.

She blames the community for the misdirection of many young people.

"So much things I see I don't believe in it," she said. "I try to tell young people, if they go out and travel with church, they would do better."

Brown, 66, helps take care of his elderly mother along with Joyce L. Dingle, her personal care attendant. Brown is happy to share in this phase of his mother's life.

The second of her four children, Brown still praises his mother for teaching him and his other siblings how to cook when they were very young.

He praises her for keeping them in the church and instilling in them the values of hard work and respect.

The two enjoy a lighthearted relationship and playfully tease each other often during their frequent visits.

"It's been a good experience because I don't want her to go in the (nursing) home," he said.

Not that Adkinson willingly would go into a nursing home.

She remembers a doctor advising her to do just that several years ago. Adkinson promptly told him, "He needed to go to a nursing home."

"She's a sweetheart and feisty," said Dingle, who has worked with Adkinson for six years.

Dingle moved to South Carolina in the early 1990s after living in New York for nearly four decades. In the time they've known each other, Dingle said Adkinson has made her feel welcome in the Lowcountry. She looks forward to many more years with Adkinson.

"I just hope she's here another 10 years. She's a joy to take care of," Dingle said.

Adkinson had open-heart surgery several years ago. Doctors didn't think she would survive, and she prides herself on having proven them wrong. Kindness toward others and a giving spirit are the keys to a long healthy life, Adkinson said.

"I like to help people," she said. "A meal or rations can save anybody's life."

Reach Jasiri Whipper at 745-5863 or jwhipper@postandcourier.com.