River Rouge celebrates 100th birthday of woman living through her second global pandemic

RIVER ROUGE, Mich. – River Rouge celebrated the 100th birthday of a woman who is living through the second global pandemic of her lifetime.

Five years ago, Dora Smith earned her high school diploma at 95 years old. On Tuesday, she turned 100, and the entire neighborhood came out to celebrate.

“I thank the lord for bringing me to 99, then skipped over to 100 today,” Smith said.

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While she expected to have a few people drive by, she didn’t expect to hear the sirens and honking horns that made their way down Chestnut Street in River Rouge.

“I didn’t know this many people were going to be here,” Smith said.

The celebration included the mayors of River Rouge and Ecorse -- her former city.

Now that she’s reached her goals of getting her high school diploma and reaching 100 years old, Smith talked about what’s next.

“I was going to go to college, but I’m going to stay home and serve the Lord,” Smith said.

Staying home is what Smith has to do during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

You can watch Kim DeGiulio’s full story in the video posted above.

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