BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Telegraph Staff Writer
It may not have felt like it to her, but it was a special day for Starke’s Violet Forgette, who found herself surrounded by family, friends, balloons and flowers at Cedar River Seafood in Starke to celebrate her 100th birthday.
“I just feel like I always feel,” Forgette said. “I don’t feel any different.”
Forgette uses a walker to help her get around, but other than the decline in her eyesight, she said she has no major ailments. She said she doesn’t make regular visits to the doctor. She just goes when she feels she has to.
“I’m blessed,” she said. “I’ve always had really good health. I haven’t had anything wrong with me.”
Forgette was born and raised in Jacksonville. She said she enjoyed playing outdoors. That included roller skating.
“I roller skated every year when it got cold,” Forgette said. “It was too hot in the summertime.”
She thought she was going to be an only child until her brother, Tom, was born. He was 7 years younger than her.
“He was a good man,” Forgette said. “He’s gone to be with the Lord now, but I tell you, he was my mainstay.”
As is often the case with siblings growing up, they quarreled despite their love for each other. Forgette recalled a funny incident later in life when she said something in front of her mother about how she and Tom fought a lot with each other as children. Her mother asked, “You did?”
“She was there,” Forgette said, laughing. “How she didn’t hear us fussing, I don’t know.”
Forgette graduated from Landon High School, which ceased to be after the 1964-65 school year, transitioning to Landon Middle School. (The school has since become a magnet school — Julia Landon College Preparatory Leadership Development School.)
“I lived only two blocks from it,” Forgette said of the school building, which was built in 1926.
Jacksonville was home until Forgette married Everett Marvin Stallings, who was a Marine. Due to his service, the family made several moves over the course of about 10 years.
“Every three years…I packed up the four kids and the cat and the dog, and we took off,” Forgette said, adding, “I was used to it. It didn’t bother me a bit. I enjoyed living different places and meeting different people.”
Forgette met Stallings (now deceased) when he was stationed at Naval Air Station Jacksonville.
“He was a good man. He really was,” Forgette said. “He was fun to be with.”
Forgette gave birth to four children: Marvina Steadman, Dan Stallings, Richard Stallings and Melanie Dyer.
“Early on, I wanted to get married and have four children,” Forgette said. “I did it.”
God has always been a big part of Forgette’s life. Finding a church home was important every time the family moved.
“The first thing we’d do (after moving to a new home) is we’d go to church that first Sunday,” Forgette said. “You’d always meet nice people. It was just good.”
Forgette taught Sunday school and attended First Baptist Church of Starke.
“It was my life,” she said.
Two of Forgette’s children are still living: Marvina Steadman and Dan Stallings. She lives with Steadman.
“She’s a jewel,” Forgette said of her daughter. “I don’t know what I’d do without her, to be honest with you. She’s so good to me.”
Forgette credits Steadman for the birthday celebrations she enjoys.
“I never think about (my birthday) until it comes,” Forgette said. “Marvina is in charge of it.”
She may not think of her birthdays until they arrive, but Forgette did admit to somebody at that Jan. 19, 2024, was worth having a celebration on. After all, how often does one celebrate being 100 years old?
Such longevity often prompts media outlets to pose the question: “What is the secret to your long life?”
Of course, there is no secret.
“You just live each day as it comes,” Forgette said.
And with each day comes giving thanks to God.
“I know that the Lord has blessed me,” Forgette said. “I couldn’t have done anything without Him.”
Forgette may not feel like she’s as old as she is, but, with a twinkle in her eye, she said, “I’ll try to remember I’m 100 and behave accordingly.”
