Celebrating Caswell Washam’s 100th birthday

Celebrating Caswell Washam’s 100th birthday

Posted on 18 December 2011.

Caswell Washam sheds a tear as Ron Raeford delivers a birthday cake at Raeford's Barber Shop Saturday. (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)

By DAVID BORAKS
DavidsonNews.net

Caswell Washam turns 100 years old on Tuesday, and his family and friends this weekend are making sure the milestone doesn’t go unnoticed.

The north Mecklenburg native and retired textile mill supervisor was scheduled to be the guest of honor at big party Sunday afternoon in a Huntersville church hall. And on Saturday morning, his monthly haircut at Raeford’s Barber Shop in downtown Davidson was interrupted with a birthday cake and round of “Happy Birthday.”

Caswell Washam blows out candles on the cake at Raeford's. (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)

Mr. Washam has been moved by all the attention. He is lot slower than he once was and said Saturday, “I just take it one day at a time.”

Asked for the secret to his longevity, he added: “I don’t know. I haven’t got one.”

Mr. Washam still takes care of his home and tills a garden every summer, and family members say he grows some of the best tomatoes around. (He once sold those tomatoes and other produce at the farmer’s market once held at Cornelius Elementary School.) He is a longtime member of Huntersville ARP Church, where he is an elder emeritus.

“He still mows his own lawn, and only started using a cane three weeks ago,” said his daughter, Connie Heath of Wilmington.

Ms. Heath and other family and friends have organized Sunday’s birthday party at First Baptist Church hall in downtown Huntersville.

Mr. Washsam was born Dec. 20, 1911, in what’s now Huntersville, the second of five children of William Washam and Mozelle McAuley Washam. Three siblings have passed away, but his sister, Hilda Carroll, 85, still lives in Charlotte.

After graduating from Huntersville High School, he worked at Cannon Mills in Kannapolis for nearly a half-century, except for three years off serving with the U.S. Navy in the Pacific during World War II, on the battleship USS Guam.

For 59 years, he was married to Evelyn Knox Washam, until her death in 2009. They had one daughter, Connie.

Happy Birthday Mr. Washam was on the cake. (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)

He retired from the mill at age 65 as a supervisor. Since then, he’s remained active around his Huntersville home.

And for past 13 years, he has shown up for a monthly haircut at Raeford’s Barber Shop in downtown Davidson.

On Saturday morning at 10 a.m., owner Ron Raeford and his coworkers and a shop full of patrons surprised Mr. Washam with a cake. As he listened to “Happy Birthday” around him, Mr. Washam appeared to shed a tear.

The cake was topped by three candles spelling out “1-0-0″ and inscribed “Happy Birthday Mr. Washam.”