At 101, former teacher looks back on a lifetime of learning

When she was in her 50s, Sadie Childress Marshall earned her master’s degree in teaching. When she was in her late 60s, she learned to ride a bicycle and play the piano.

Thursday, the former Campbell County schoolteacher celebrated her 101st birthday. Marshall still lives on her own in the modest white Hat Creek house that, on a clear day, has views of the Peaks of Otter.

While she has some difficulty moving around without a cane, Marshall said she still tries to go for short walks and read.

“I love to read good books. I don’t like these sexy things, but I like good stories and I like history stories,” she said. “I’ve got some real good books on the Bible and I just like good literature.”

Born in 1908, Marshall spent much of her early life in Marysville, a tiny Campbell County community between Gladys and Altavista. In 1920, her family moved to Phenix in Charlotte County so Marshall and her sister Lucile could attend high school. Both girls graduated and Marshall went on to college in Farmville so she could be a schoolteacher.

She married Richard Brandol Marshall and had four children. They lived on the Hat Creek tobacco farm that Sadie still calls home. In 1947, a tragic accident killed her husband.

“I was left with four children. I held on to the farm and made it until the children were old enough to go to school and I went back to Farmville in the summertime and at night until I got my master’s degree so I could have money enough to clothe them and feed them. It wasn’t any easy thing, but I did it. It took me nine years.”

Marshall taught school in Campbell County for 30 years, mostly second grade in Brookneal. She then substitute-taught for another 10 yearsEvery year, Marshall sent all students in her class a birthday card and still keeps photographs of some students who touched her.

Former students still send her cards. “I get remembrances from Richmond and Georgia and Ohio,” she said. “They ha-ven’t forgotten me. It makes me feel real good.”

Both of Marshall’s sons died of cancer when they were 52. Both daughters still are living, one near Chatham and the other in Brunswick, Ga., Marshall said. She has eight grandchildren, more than a dozen great grandchildren and one great-great grandchild.

For many years, Marshall was known to her neighbors as the walker, said granddaughter Joy Jenkins. “She had a usual route of two to three miles she would walk and kind of do it at least once a day. For her 80th birthday, Marshall wanted to walk 20 miles in one day, Jenkins said, but she fell a little short because she ran out of daylight. Up until she was 95, Mar-shall walked several miles per day, Jenkins said.

After retiring from teaching, Marshall decided she would learn to play the piano and learn to ride a bike. “She never had one and thought it was time she did,” Jenkins said. “She didn’t give it up until she learned.”

Marshall took piano lessons, and at age 80, began playing at her church, Beulah Baptist Church in Brookneal. She had to stop at age 95, she said. “I was hard of hearing and couldn’t always hear and wasn’t sure I had the right time.”

“She’s always been interested in the church and the young persons and she loves people and of course people love her. I think they reflect the love that she gives them,” said Shelby Royal, pastor at Beulah Baptist Church.

She cooks very little now, and spends much of her time reading and doing crossword puzzles. Her daughter and neighbors help with chores.

“My neighbors are so good to me and my family is so good to me,” she said. “I feel like I’m lucky to have them. I couldn’t have better neighbors.”