PANAMA CITY — Virginia Neiman sang in the choir at church Sunday morning before cutting her own cake at a celebration thrown by the church for Neiman’s 100th birthday.
“I don’t know if any noise came out or not, but I was moving my voice,” she said as other choir members thanked her for joining them.
Neiman was born Feb, 5, 1915. She lived in Pennsylvania before moving to north Florida in 1980.
“I’ll never move from here. I really like it,” she said.
Neiman sang in the choir at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church and played organ there for several years. She and her family lived in Sunny Hills and would bring a “travel trailer” down to the Panama City church for rehearsal Saturday evenings, then stay the night in the parking lot to be up for the 8 a.m. service.
“It was fun. I could look out and realize I didn’t have to walk very far,” she said.
At the church’s service Sunday morning, Neiman’s son helped her walk to the altar to receive communion, but she said she can walk alright on her own and even drives a car still.
“I feel just as lively as I did when I was 50,” she said. “I feel good.”
She lives in an assisted living facility now, but her daughter, Carol Spatz, called it “living independently.” Spatz and her brother, Jonathan Neiman, were both present for the party.
“Everything’s changed. I don’t wear a long dress anymore. Everything has changed. I can’t say how, but people’s values have changed. You’re more free than you used to be,” she said. “[When I was young] I had to be real shy around boys and that was no fun.”
Several people came up to Neiman to wish her a happy birthday and she thanked each one graciously. One friend asked Neiman to help celebrate her own hundredth birthday eight years from now. Neiman agreed.
“I don’t feel 100 and I hope I never do,” she said.
