SUMMIT COUNTY, Ohio — Do you ever wonder how people live to be 100, still in relatively good physical and mental health? I’ve always been fascinated by this.
So, imagine how I felt when I was first told about Margaret Sutton, 100. She’s active. She drives to the grocery store and church. She spends time giving back to others. She had a heart procedure at 99. The Summit County mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and great-great-grandmother, wanted to be in good shape for her 100th birthday party.
“I couldn’t breathe when I walk,” she told me. “When I breathed, the next breath, I was reaching out for it.”
Heart and History
She was once a heart surgery nurse. She retired in 1976 as a charge nurse. Things have definitely changed since then.
“I thought they were going to open me up, like in the 60s, that’s what they did… [but they didn’t] they did it one day and I came home the next day, shocked, but I was fine,” said Sutton.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, it was a successful mitral valve clip procedure.
“They don’t do it on people who are older, but I was the perfect case for it,” she said.
When I visited Ms. Sutton at her home, I learned so much more about her faith and the passion she has for the Lord.
She’s unafraid to share “the good news” with others, subtly yet confidently.
“I was aware of Him in my life and the things that have happened to me, looking back now, I understand He was there all the time, taking care of me, wasn’t easy, but He took care of me,” she said.
Her grandfather was a slave. Her parents separated when she was five. You can imagine what she’s been through in life. Sutton said she started her career as a nurse in Pittsburgh, then came to Northeast Ohio and worked at St. Vincent Hospital. She also worked at Forest City Hospital in Cleveland’s Glenville neighborhood, which, according to the Cleveland Clinic, was recognized as Cleveland’s first fully interracial hospital.
A woman, a Black woman, who overcame so many obstacles. Her cardiologist, Dr. Melina Aguinaga Meza believes she, and so many others like her, deserve to be celebrated.
“She became a nurse in the times where women were barely allowed to go to school, like it had to have been hard for her to overcome all these barriers and make it, and still keep alive, it’s an example for others,” she said.
Is This the Secret to a Long Life?
Lately, I feel like I’m hearing more about Northeast Ohioans reaching the age of 100 and seemingly doing well.
According to Pew Research Center, “the number of Americans ages 100 and older is projected to more than quadruple over the next three decades, from an estimated 101,000 in 2024 to about 422,000 in 2054.”
Maybe you’ve seen the documentaries or learned elsewhere about research groups looking into this type of longevity.
Aguinaga Meza said, according to research, there are some common themes for people living into their 90s and beyond, especially those living in so-called Blue Zones.
“First is the diet, the type of diet they have in common, they all tend to eat more fruits and vegetables and unprocessed meals,” she said. “Physical activity, all their life they are physically active, not necessarily going to the gym, but they had to commute to do their own work, so they walk.”
Social interaction is important too.
“They’re always surrounded by people and they keep interacting with them, so they are not isolated and they all stay pretty much in their own houses surrounded by this family,” she said. “Almost all of these communities have a belief system, so either religion, mostly religion, and different religions, but that also is important, it’s something they connect to, is hope.”
Sutton was active well into her later years, spending time in Europe, the Far East, and teaching in the West Indies. She loves to read and write and has authored a published book of prayers.
Ms. Sutton's Wisdom
Her biggest piece of advice is to know who you are and your limitations.
“You have to know where your place is and stay in it,” she said. “Stay out of other folks’ business.”
Sutton’s family is active in her life. While the party was a success, her focus has always been sharing her faith.
“I’m going to be gone soon, I don’t know when but I feel on my heart that there’s so many people that need to know the Lord, that don’t know Him,” she said. “That’s what I do now.”
