Jan 24, 2009 — How many birthday cakes does it take to spell 100?
Three. One for the "one" and two for the zeros.
That's how Frederica Louisa Archibald's family settled the issue of how to handle the cake for the matriarch of their family, who turned 100 on Friday.
Archibald, a 100-year-old resident of St. Thomas will celebrate her centennial with 80 guests at a party honoring her on Saturday.
Born January 23, 1909, on Nevis, Archibald is the youngest of 13 children of Charles and Eliza Hanley.
Archibald recalls island life before cars and remembers riding donkeys and horses and in buggies as a young girl before automobiles were brought to the island.
Mrs. Archibald is the mother of two children, Violet Sylvia James and Leonard Brown, and is the grandmother of 15 children, more great grandchildren than her family could easily count, and has attained the status of great-great grandmother of nine.
Her great-grandchildren call her "Drekas."
"We couldn't say Frederica when we were younger – it was easier to say Drekas, so we stuck with that," great-granddaughter, Lisa Webster-Potter said.
A homemaker all her life, Mrs. Archibald moved to St. Thomas from Nevis in 1968 to help look after her grandchildren, and later her great grandchildren.
"She dedicated her whole life to raising her grandkids and raised her great grandkids – she really raised them," said granddaughter Michelle Prentice. "They came everyday after school. She took them to church on Sundays and the spent most Saturdays at the house with her as well."
One of her grandchildren, Leah Webster, became Miss U.S. Virgin Islands.
Prentice said that Mrs. Archibald was a stickler for good manners.
"She was a tough one, but she was very loving and always told us 'I love you just the way you are'," Prentice said. "Her family – that was her hobby and her life."
Mrs. Archibald is a faithful member of All Saints Church, whose pastor came to visit her on Friday.
She was also quite a gardener, growing peas and papayas and making bush tea from a bush in the yard, Prentice said.
"She grew local roses," Prentice said. "She was always in the yard."
With all of her family gathering around for the celebration, Mrs. Archibald is in for a grand soiree.
"Her biggest thing is seeing all the family together," Prentice said.
In addition to those living in the Virgin Islands, thirty five members of Mrs. Archibald's family have flown in from Atlanta, New York, Florida, Nevis and England to attend the party.
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