Oklahoma Centenarian Is Celebrating Her 25th Birthday on Leap Day: ‘It’s Going to Be Pretty Big’

Centenarian Mary Lea Forsythe may be turning 100, but she’s giddy to finally celebrate her 25th birthday!

“Actually, I’ll be 24 and 7/8. There’s a man in the church who likes to say that,” Forsythe says in an interview with PEOPLE about his leap day birthday. “No 29 in three out of four years and I’m having a good time with it.”

Truth be told, Forsythe has had a good time almost every day since she first appeared in the world on February 29, 1924 in Sand Springs, Oklahoma – and she’s more than happy to talk about the good old days. From her farrier father who was recruited by none other than town founder Charles Page to come from Missouri to the new state of Oklahoma, to the pre-television world and living through the Depression, World War II and other seismic events.

“We had the only phone in the neighborhood, so we’d shout ‘Miz Brown, they’re looking for you on the phone, come across the garden to the house,'” says Forsythe. “Those were different times, I’ll tell you.”

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Mary Lea Forsythe at age 4, when her birthday actually fell on her real birthday.

Courtesy of Mary Lea Forsythe

Or there’s her love-at-first-sight encounter with her late husband William, who died in 2011 after 68 years of marriage.

The couple, who met in the 9th grade, both enjoyed music (she learned to play the mandolin in her 50s) and traveled extensively after he served in World War II.

She remembers that one year she went with him to a restaurant that offered a free birthday meal. She told the waitress it was both of their birthdays – and the server wasn’t buying it. “She said ‘Both?’ And I said, ‘Yes. His is on March 6, and mine is on the 29th, and this 29th is not on the calendar, so I’m taking his this year,” he says with a laugh.

The centenarian explains that she always marked her non-leap year birthdays on random dates – “I had two brothers and three sisters, and if anyone wanted to celebrate my birthday, that’s the day I celebrated,” she jokes – but when on leap years, she sticks to her actual birthday.

Bill and Mary Lea Forsythe.

Courtesy of Mary Lea Forsythe

Despite her penchant for reminiscing, Forsythe isn’t stuck in the past. She is a big fan of technology and loves taking selfies, texting friends and family and when Siri makes her life easier.

“She’s the selfie queen, way better than me,” says granddaughter Kerry Nau, who lives in California with her two sons. – And he constantly sends me messages.

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Nau is the one who volunteered to be the emcee for Forsythe’s big birthday party on February 29th.

“I had no idea what I was getting myself into,” she tells PEOPLE. “I asked her how many invitations she needed and she said about 30. I wrote 40 – and she said she needed more because she was inviting everyone.”

Granddaughter Kerry Nau with Mary Lea Forsythe, who took this selfie.

Courtesy of Mary Lea Forsythe

Forsythe says she invited her family — which includes a son, daughter, five grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren — as well as people from church and various clubs she’s been involved with over the years.

“It’s going to be pretty big,” she says.

Nau adds: “If I had thought this up, I would have arrived more than a day in advance to sort everything out. We are constantly changing towards larger areas.”

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Nau says her grandmother always did things her way. When she came to visit their family in California one year, Forsythe decided she wanted to try her grandson’s skateboard. At that time she was about 70 years old — she fell and broke her wrist.

“She has this cast and we see her cutting it. She said she was modifying it to make it more comfortable,” Nau says with a laugh.

In an era when women wore dresses, Forsythe is proud to say that she was the first to wear a pantsuit to church.

“At that time, nobody wore pants, so I sat in the back of the church because I thought I was going to be kicked out,” she says. “But no one kicked me out and the next week everyone started wearing pants to church.”

Mary Lea Forsythe when she rang the bell on Constitution Day.

Courtesy of Mary Lea Forsythe

Before she turned 100, she was recognized by the Oklahoma Centenarians, and she was a parliamentarian for the local Daughters of the American Revolution, until she decided to resign last week.

“I think I’ve done my part,” she says.

Frankly, she’s got too much going on right now, including working on the distribution of You Are Fantastic, a booklet she wrote late last year “about your spirit and your soul.” She originally printed enough for her family, but then it became popular locally.

“I got the copyright and ordered 100 and sold about half,” she says.

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Forsythe lives alone in her two-story house on the hill, although her daughter lives just down the road and checks on her every day. She also walks regularly when time permits, has a treadmill and is active.

“I don’t smoke and I don’t drink, and I just enjoy life. And I don’t try to hold a grudge,” says Forsythe. “I’m trying to get rid of everything that is a problem with me and my heart. I forgive and I don’t cheat or lie.”

She says her parents lived into their 80s, all three sisters died at 86, and two brothers died in their 70s.

“My mother’s sister Mary lived to be 107,” says Forsythe. “So I told them I was going to outdo her.”

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Source: HIS Education