On Saturday, hundreds gathered at the Elk’s Lodge to celebrate the 100th birthday of life-long Selma resident Lillie Irby.

The banquet hall featured an elaborate spread of food and tables adorned in red and white and guests took turns offering Irby word of praise and cramming dollar bills into her hands.

“It was so pretty,” said Irby’s daughter-in-law, Mary. “I was in tears. She was so happy.”

Irby was born in Selma on April 17, 1919 to Berta and Claude Lewis, Sr.

With three boys, Irby was the couple’s only daughter.

Irby married Washington Irby in the early 1940s and the pair went onto have three children – one died as an infant, her daughter passed away in 2013 and her son, Mary’s husband, passed away not long ago.

Early in her life, she worked at Dunn Rest Home.

“For the 50 years that I’ve know her, she’s basically been a home maker,” Mary Irby said.

Lillie Irby still remains active in the community and has been a life-long member of Lily Grove Baptist Church in Selma.

Lillie Irby has seven grandchildren, 24 great-grandchildren and 16 great-great-grandchildren.