Celebrating Alice

As we age and are considered well ‘over-the-hill,’ our time and how we choose to spend each day becomes more precious. They say to grow in age is to grow older, weaker and less active… but what an exceptionally extraordinary case Alice Humphrey Boothe has turned out to be. She is wise, has endured more than any one person should, and is the most radiant soul. On February 15th Alice will turn the ever-so-young age of 100. After living a century, she has plenty of stories to share.

Alice was born on February 15, 1923 on a farm in Cimarron County, a small patch located between Keyes and Boise City, OK that would help pave her adventures through life. She grew up with two sisters, Margie and Lucille. At 15 and 18 months apart, people often thought they were triplets due to their closeness in age.

“When mother (Alice) was a little bitty girl, with two other little bitty girls, grandma would sometimes pop popcorn and put it in little brown sacks and the girls would go walk around the square selling popcorn for a nickel a bag,” said daughter, Karel Payne.

Alice attended school in Boise City, which at that time was a relatively large school. Following Boise City, Alice attended school in Keyes. Being a much smaller school, accommodating two grades in one classroom, she had to learn to adjust to the lack of classroom space and less classmates.

Alice proceeded to college in Goodwell at Oklahoma Panhandle State University where she would meet Jack Humphrey. She and her two sisters were among the first ones to go to college in their family.

“My dad (Jack) was so shy he had to have someone else ask my mother if she would go out with him,” chimed Karel.

During this time World War II was in motion. It was a global conflict that lasted from 1939 to 1945. Although Alice hadn’t graduated college yet, when the war came along it took all the men, and women were needed to coach and teach because the men in the school were gone. At one point Alice was even a basketball referee.

“Someone once said to me, 'You were a referee?!' to which I responded with yes and it didn’t hurt a thing,” beamed Alice.

Alice and Jack were married in 1944 when she hopped on a train and rode from Hooker, OK, where she was teaching at the time, to Sedalia, MO where Jack was stationed at Whiteman Air Force Base. The young couple were wed during Christmas break on Christmas Eve, but not quite how they imagined.

“The chaplain on post had just had an emergency appendectomy three days before and he was still in the hospital. There was another couple that he was also supposed to marry, so they worked it out to where they got married in the chapel at the hospital. Their wedding meal on Christmas day came from one of the only places open that day; a little grocery store where they bought liverwurst and bread,” explained Karel.

Alice has taught and expanded the minds of many students in various places such as Pritchett, Colorado, Garden City, Kansas, Sedalia, Missouri, and Hooker, Oklahoma to name a few.

“I’ve taught many places. I was teaching in the grade school during the first years and the last years I was teaching home economics. It was a beautiful time. I’ve had a lovely life, really I have,” expressed Alice.

Jack and Alice welcomed three children during their marriage, Karel Payne, who now lives in Stillwater, Jocille Kamphaus, who lives in Yukon, and Dale Humphrey who succumbed to the injuries sustained from a car accident at the age of three. With their children came five grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

“After Jack and I got married, we would stay in one place for about 10 years before we’d move on to another place. The last place was Canute, OK and he was the superintendent there for 10 years. One day the superintendent of Cordell asked Jack to come here and be the principal. I’ve been here ever since.” Following their arrival to Cordell in 1983, Alice was working at the school when she was told that the city needed a librarian, and she was asked if she would do it. Alice retired from teaching in the late 80’s and served as the City Librarian at the Cordell Carnegie Public Library, which now houses the Washita County Historical Museum, for 10 years before resigning to be with her husband during his final days after battling illness. Jack unfortunately passed in 1999.

“When the new library [located at 208 S College St] was finished, we had just enough people that we passed all the books one by one down to transfer them to the new library,” stated Alice.

In 2015, Alice remarried to Wayne Boothe. They were the oldest couple to get a marriage license in Washita County at 93 and 94 years old.

“He loved my mother. When he proposed to her, he said, ‘We might just have a year, we might just have two years, but think how happy those one or two years will be!’ They didn’t get to have that much time, but they were extremely happy, like a fairy tale in this town actually,” shared Karel.

To know Alice, regardless of how long, is to love Alice. Several community members can recall an interaction with Alice, big or small, that ultimately left a positive impact in their lives. Several remember her as the sweet librarian and others recognize her as the kindest face.

“I moved to Cordell five years ago and Alice would always talk to my little boy wherever we would see her out in public. So, when we would go somewhere he would say ‘I wonder where that nice lady is’ and we would look around and somehow she would be there. We didn’t even know her but had just come to Cordell and she made us feel welcomed and didn’t even know who we were,” expressed Cordell resident, Heather Flores.

What do you feel you have done in your life that has helped you live to be 100? “I never have thought about that really. I do anything that I want to do and I do it!”

Her daughter, Karel, remembers her mother always saying, “Get up in the morning and do something or go somewhere, don’t just sit around.” Karel stated that just like everyone else, they’ve had some sad days in their life, but still Alice models that saying so much. To help her achieve her motto, Alice had several hobbies. Some of her hobbies include sewing, jigsaw puzzles, reading, writing in a journal and bird watching. Even today, at the glorious age of 100, Alice goes down to the First Baptist Church every Monday to count the money, address all the birthday cards and still calls bingo that same day at the Baptist Village. She still enjoys seeing her friends and enjoying a meal at the Cordell Senior Citizens Center. She said it’s just a really good feeling having so many friends.

“She used to sew beautifully and I was the only girl in Leedey, OK, I’m sure, where we lived at one point that had a new outfit almost every Saturday night for my date,” beamed Karel.

Alice, we wish you all the best on your special day. Here's to an incredible century of memories and experiences! You have done more than most people could ever dream and are such an inspiration to your family and friends. Happy Birthday.