Dorothy Thompson had a memorable 103rd birthday party on Nov. 13.

The resident of Wellsville’s A New Healthcare Nursing Home received seven boxes of jigsaw puzzles, two bouquets of flowers and a visit from one of her children who brought a big cake that was shared with residents at the nursing home.

“I had a good time,” Thompson said. “They were good to me, treated me like a queen and spoiled me to death.”

Thompson was born on Nov. 13, 1920 in Jefferson City. For many years, she thought her birthday was Nov. 14 until she noticed an error that was made by her father.

“My father was very suspicious,” said Thompson, who graduated from Jefferson City High School in 1938. “Instead of thinking my birthday was the 13th, he reported it as the 14th. So when I was 30 years old, I found out my birth certificate was wrong. I had to have it changed.”

Thompson said when she was growing up, celebrating birthdays wasn’t a big deal.

“Our mother always made us a cake,” Thompson said. “She would put a five-dollar bill under our plate. That was a lot of money for several years. Other than that, we didn’t make much over the birthdays. My kids make more over my birthday than anybody else.”

Thompson got a visit from her daughter, Nancy Snakenberg of Sigourney, Iowa, on her birthday. Her other children are son Dick Thompson of Wellsville, daughter Karen Cumings of Monterey, Calif., and sons-in-law Don Snakenberg and Ron Cumings.

Thompson worked with her husband, Quentin, at Goff’s Food Store in Centralia for years. She said she had plenty of duties such as unloading trucks, stocking shelves and working in the produce department.

“If he needed help, I helped him,” Thompson said. “I guess that’s the reason I’m so picky about what I eat.”

Thompson sponsored a Japanese lady for citizenship in the early 1960s. When she was 90, she won the Garden Club awards in the district, state and national levels.

Thompson did plenty of traveling, visiting places such as Canada, the Caribbean Islands, Spain, Hawaii, Italy, Africa and Switzerland.

“He (my husband) likes to travel, but we didn’t go until we had it paid for,” Thompson said.

Thompson lived in Linn, California (Moniteau County), Centralia and Mexico (Audrain County) before moving to New Healthcare (formerly Gamma Road Lodge Nursing Home) in 2018.

“I appreciate all they do for me,” Thompson said of New Healthcare.