CAROLINA BEACH, NC (WWAY) — At American Legion Post 129 on Saturday, Ida Levesque—though most people call her Miss Ida—celebrated 100 years of a life well lived.
At the party, Miss Ida was presented with the Key to the Town of Carolina Beach, and an American flag from Representative David Rouzer that was flown at the capitol in her honor. Post Service Officer Rene Pomeroy coordinated the celebration.
“It warms my heart to have the dignitaries to come out and honor our own, our very own, Miss Ida,” Pomeroy said.
After graduating high school in 1942, Miss Ida immediately enlisted in the US Navy. While serving, she was stationed at a Navy hospital in Jacksonville, Florida. Miss Ida’s daughter Gale notes that her mom remembers those days fondly.
“There were so many military people walking on the streets,” Gale said. “You know, everybody that walked by you had something positive to say. You’d walk into a restaurant and people would stand up and clap.”
Gale added that to this day, Miss Ida is proud to have served her county.
“And if you ask her ‘you know, would you do that again?’ she said ‘of course.’ She said ‘in a minute,’” Gale said.
But Miss Ida said that joining the military gave her more than something to be proud of.
“It gave me meaning to life, and my husband,” Miss Ida explained.
Now a centenarian, Miss Ida added that people frequently ask what her secret is.
“They’ve been asking me ‘what’s my secret?’ I said, ‘I have no secret’ because I never expected it,” Miss Ida said.
As Pomeroy puts it, the celebration was much more than the typical birthday party.
“For her ninety-ninth birthday, we had it in the canteen, so it was much smaller; and I said ‘let’s party like it’s 99’ and she just got a big kick out of that. And so now, I’m like okay, so this is the party of the century,” Pomeroy said.
The party of the century for Miss Ida Levesque.