Rose Gambill pauses for a photograph while visiting relatives at Services Unlimited in Sparta.

Gambill celebrates her 101st birthday March 8

Rose Gambill of the Farmer's Fish Camp area has something in common with the infant featured on Page 8 this week: she was born early in the century.

In her case, however, it was the 20th century. William McKinley was president. Sparta's roads were dirt, and horses were necessary for transportation, not just recreation.

Born near the New River in Alleghany County on March 8, 1901, Gambill plans to celebrate her 101st birthday this Friday with a small family gathering.

Still quite active, she was almost too "on the go" to be interviewed. Family members say she still cooks and cleans for herself.

Gambill taught at Gambill School. She was married to the late Johnny Gambill, who was an Alleghany County Commissioner.

She has two daughters, Nancy Scott and Johnsie McIntyre. Rose Gambill also has six grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.

She can remember when automobiles were an oddity on Alleghany's roads. She recalled her first such sighting. "I saw a car coming down the road. I said, 'That buggy didn't have any horses to it,'" commented Gambill.

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