Arlington woman celebrates 102nd birthday

ARLINGTON, Ga. (WALB) - People celebrate birthdays every day, but not too many people get the chance to celebrate a birthday like one woman in Arlington. Airlene Hutchins, who is turning 102 is the oldest person in Arlington.

Born on May 19, 1921, Hutchins and her family moved to Arlington in the 1950s.

She was married to John Wesley Hutchins for 40 years before he passed away. They had eight kids together with five of them still living.

Hutchins also has 11 grandchildren, 18 great-grandchildren and 11 great-great-grandchildren.

Her passions are sewing and cooking, which she got to do when she worked at the hospital in Arlington as a dietitian up until the early 1990s.

Even though Hutchins currently has Alzheimer’s, her son, John, says he believes the secret to her long life is quite simple.

“My mom never did eat fast food,” Lester Hutchins said. “She cooked her own meals. She ate everything from scratch. Back in the day, she used to walk a lot because we didn’t have cars. So she had to walk to the store. Stuff like that.”

Airlene Hutchins also shares a birthday (though she was born four years before) with the late civil rights activist Malcolm X.

From WALB, happy birthday, Airlene!

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