Another Feel-Good Friday homage to the centenarians!
JoCleta Wilson will be 100 on October 4. She doesn’t look a day over 70. For Wilson, a former dancer who owned Louisville Dance Academy in Louisville, KY for 40 years, age is just a number. Wilson works two mornings a week at the Louisville Home Depot and is the oldest Home Depot employee in the country. You’ll find Wilson’s smiling face there from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., as that is when Wilson says she can give 100 percent. She jokes that after that, you only get 50 percent of her! People half her age can’t even give that much, and that’s a fact. They could learn some lessons from Wilson on energy and longevity.
Wilson was born in Louisville in 1924. She turns 100 years old this Oct. 4. She started working at Home Depot two years ago.
“That is because I want to communicate with people,” she said. “If you are not working, you lose your art of conversing,” Wilson said. “I’ve retired three times. Each time was 10 years, and I’ve gotten so sick of myself, I couldn’t stand it.”
She spent much of her life dancing and traveled the world with the June Taylor dancers. To this day, she still has the moves. Wilson danced and sang on stage at the age of 94. She performed the song, “If My Friends Could See Me Now.”
The mother of four owned the Louisville Dance Academy for nearly 40 years. She still drives, and her artwork received an honorable mention at this year’s Kentucky State Fair. She was willing to share a few of her secrets.
“For one thing, don’t sweat the small stuff,” she said.
Amen, sister. I am learning this every day. What amazes me is what Wilson considers the small stuff. Wilson lumps her health battles into that category, and in almost 100 years, they have been many.
”I’ve had cancer three times,” she said. “COPD, Emphysema, and I have a pacemaker. But you can’t sweat the small stuff. So, I just don’t think about it.”
Which makes one wonder, off the dance floor, what does Wilson sweat over?
This was a beautiful story on JoCleta Wilson ~ who turns 100 next month ~ the oldest Home Depot employee in the country. JoCleta owned Louisville Dance Academy for 40 years. 💃 https://t.co/zQUZVCPoSV
— Lacy Robinson (@KentuckyLacy) September 20, 2024
One thing she won’t do is clean her house. Wilson said she pays someone to do that.
”I didn’t get this old without getting smart,” she said.
A woman after my own heart. I need to get that smart, because I hate cleaning house.
Another health tip that Wilson talked about (and is too often ignored) is posture.
“I put a lot of emphasis on posture,” Wilson said. She tests herself against a wall. “And if I’m slouching, I correct it.”
Her mother lived to be 99 years old.
BKS Iyengar, one of my favorite Yoga teachers who cured himself and taught others how to find healing through Yoga said, “Focus on keeping your spine straight. It is the job of the spine to keep the brain alert.” Whether Wilson practiced with Iyengar or not, she understands the flow of life and energy that comes through spinal strength and connection. As Wilson said above, she wants to continue to connect to people and the world around her, and she’s doing an awesome job at it. Louisville, KY and now others are blessed that JoCleta Wilson still walks among us, and she walks tall too!
Wilson has even written a cookbook, “Make Them Think You Can Cook,” using recipes that she collected while dancing around the world. Part of the proceeds from the book were given to the Kentucky Special Olympics. Two of Wilson’s four children had special needs, and one of them has since passed away.
It’s another reason to give the Home Depot my money over Lowe’s. Not only do they give to conservative causes and candidates, but they have truly been about diversity, equity, and inclusion by actively employing the elderly and special needs for decades. The Kentucky store is planning a birthday party for JoCleta Wilson at the store—it promises to be an epic affair—let’s hope there is lots dancing.
