Arlis Tewell, right, will celebrate her 100th Sunday with her son, John Tewell, left, daughter, Mary Glasman, and son-in-law, Marvin Glasman. Kim Lamb/Appeal News Service
FALLON - Scientists around the world have been crunching numbers for decades trying to find the secret to longevity.
The woman who will soon become Fallon's newest centenarian, Arlis Tewell, knows the secret: "One day at a time."
Tewell will celebrate her birthday Sunday with a celebration at her church, Christian Life Center.
While her hair has turned white and she says she doesn't get around as much as she used to, Tewell has no health problems to speak of and takes hardly any medication - just blood pressure and thyroid pills.
When she was 84, Tewell hiked up to Island Lake in the Ruby Mountains, south of Elko. Up until about six months ago, she lived alone in an apartment. Now she's moved in with her daughter, Mary Glasman.
Both of Tewell's parents died at about age 69. But most of her eight brothers and sisters, of which young Tewell was considered one of the most frail, all lived into their 80s or 90s. Her one living sibling, Mary, is 95.
Tewell's children, Glasman; her husband, Marvin; and Fallon City Councilman John Tewell think her clean living had a definite role in attaining 100.
The widow of the Rev. Bernard Tewell, Tewell "never smoked, never drank, never gambled," said her son. "I think that contributed to (her longevity)."
Tewell didn't learn to drive until the late 1960s, when she was around 63. She stopped in the late 1980s, when she sold her car to daughter and never bought a new one.
Tewell grew up in Texas. Her father owned a 200-acre ranch, and the closest schoolhouse, a one-room, doubled as the church. There was Sunday school most weeks but a circuit-riding pastor only made it to town once a month or so.
"The prairie was pretty wild in those days," she said.
In 1929, Tewell moved to Elko to perform missionary work with American Indians. She lived in Alaska and California before coming back to Nevada.
Surrounded by her family, Tewell smiled when asked about her plans and she said one word: "Heaven."
Contact reporter Cory McConnell at cmcconnell@lahontanvalleynews.com.
