"Big" Turns 100!

Nancy Gordon, M.S.W., KIPDA Case Manager

Bertha "Biggie" Crisco models her Centenarian tiara and scepter, received at her 100th birthday celebration (Photo: Nancy Gordon)

"Big" on vacation with husband Loyd at White Lake, NC in the late 1930s or early 1940s

As a KIPDA Case Manager, it is often my pleasure to meet very interesting people who choose to share some of their life stories with me. When one of my clients turned 100 years old in January, she shared some of her long history:

Mrs. Bertha "Biggie" Haywood Crisco was born on January 30, 1910, in Mt. Gilead, a rural town outside Charlotte, NC. She was the youngest of four children who grew up on a farm that raised corn, tobacco, and cattle.

Bertha married Loyd Crisco, who was born in Moore County, NC in 1902, and when she was younger, she was a homemaker and did a bit of factory work in Greensburg. They had one child named Mary. The photo of Loyd and Big was taken at White Lake, NC, in the late 1930s or early 1940s.

The family moved to Louisville in 1990, and Mary married and had two children, Pam and Steve. As Bertha was very involved in their upbringing, they referred to Mary as "Little Mama" and Bertha as "Biggie Mama," later shortened to "Big," a name she still goes by. Steve still stays in her house with her.

Her family had a party for her 100th birthday, which happened to coincide with a massive snowfall. Granddaughter Pam, who was coming from Nashville, got stuck in Louisville after the party, since Nashville received 10 inches of snow and was impassable afterward.

This lovely lady still possesses all the charms and kindness from her southern upbringing so many years ago, and is a real pleasure for this case worker to serve.