As of October 4, Viola Roberts Lampkin, a Black Virginia native, became the sixth person in the United States to reach 110 years of age.

Chairman of Clarke County Board of Supervisors said that October 4 would be declared as “Viola Roberts Lampkin Brown Day.”

He also presented Brown with a certificate at her birthday celebration.

“Over the course of more than a century, Viola Roberts Lampkin Brown has witnessed Clarke County’s progress and growth, which reflects the growth of our nation, and she has made extraordinary memories that are woven into her unique narrative of American history,” the proclamation said. “Centenarian Viola Roberts Lampkin Brown, who still lives in her Josephine Street home where she maintains a daily routine that includes spiritual reflection, now joins a small but extraordinary group of individuals known as supercentenarians.”

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Brown told The Christian Post that her faith had been the biggest secret to being the longest living member of her family.

“He wakes me up in the morning. He tells me what to do. I don’t worry about things,” Brown said.

Brown’s nephew, Andrew Roberts, who loves his great-aunt, said he also believes her faith has been the key to her longevity which he compares to the “saints.”

“My personal experience has been nothing but love and joy whenever I’m in her presence. There’s never one minute that Jesus doesn’t drip off her lips. It’s as if she embodies Him. Everything she talks about and does, she gives honor and praise to God. I mean everything. She’s a literal [believer],” Roberts said. 

Brown has endured a tough life. When she was only a toddler, she survived World War I. She was also around when the women’s suffrage movement ended and when the Spanish flu pandemic ran rampant throughout the country. Brown also witnessed the end of segregation and the beginning of affirmative action.