NEW CASTLE – Not even a dreary day could dampen the bright smile Louise Trenor Wood flashed on Saturday morning at the corner of Main and Court streets.
Just days after turning 104, she was back home in Craig County, celebrating another year with family and friends. A bluegrass-style serenade in her honor was followed by dozens of her closest friends singing “Happy Birthday to You,” and as they sang, Miss Louise conducted.
“This is our traditional trip that we make up here each year,” said Louise’s daughter, Linda Wood. “We look forward to seeing the fall foliage, and then when we get to see our cousins, it’s just the best.”
While Louise Wood has lived in many places up and down the Atlantic Coast, she said that her memories of her childhood in Craig County help maintain her zest for life. She has a few other secrets to living a long life.
“Eating old-fashioned foods – fresh foods – is one of them,” Louise Wood said on Sunday by phone while traveling back to her current home in the Richmond area with her daughter. “That and good water, and all the love and friendship I get when I come home.”
Education has always been a part of Louise’s life. After graduating as salutatorian at the old Maywood High School in Valley Mill, she went on to attend the Radford State Teachers College in the early 1940s, then began a teaching career that lasted into the 1980s.
After beginning her career in Giles County, Louise went on to work in Maryland and in Fairfax, which is where she married her husband, Norman Wood, who was serving in the U.S. Navy at the time.
They went on to live in Connecticut, which is where Linda Wood was born. While her husband served, Louise taught elementary school, usually third or fourth grade, when possible.
After Norman Wood retired from the military, the family moved to the Roanoke Valley, where he worked at the General Electric factory in Salem. Louise continued to teach in the Roanoke City Schools, first at West End Elementary, and later at Huff Lane, where she stayed until retirement.
Linda Wood said she and her mother’s big weekend continued following the Fall Festival with an extended visit with family that night, and then concluded on Sunday afternoon when they met up in the Catawba area with other family members who live closer to Roanoke at The Homeplace restaurant.
“We were just thrilled when The Homeplace opened back up,” Linda Wood said. “We just love their food.”
As usual, mother and daughter said the trip to New Castle was a success and a trip back the second weekend in October 2027 is already booked.
“My mom is already looking forward to it!” Linda Wood said.
