WOMAN MARKS 100 YEARS

Erna Tucker never thought she'd celebrate her 100th birthday, so she didn't expect a party to mark the occasion. Nor did she expect to earn membership in the Century Club.

"I've had so many birthdays," she said. "I never thought I'd be 100."

Tucker received a plaque from Gov. Mel Carnahan welcoming her into the club for centenarians.

Friends and family members helped Tucker celebrate her milestone Thursday with a party at the Lutheran Home. Tucker has been a resident there for four years.

Since Tucker never really planned to reach 100, she doesn't have any secrets about how to live a long life.

"It depends on when you are born -- the day you were born, the hour you were born and where you were born," she said. "Nobody has anything to say about that. God undertakes everything."

Tucker was born and raised in Cape Girardeau. She and Leslie Tucker married and raised three children here. The couple operated L.A. Tucker truck line in Cape Girardeau for several years.

Tucker has seven grandchildren; 18 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandson.

For many years she was employed at Rust and Martin.

"I was a jockey of all trades," she said. "I would fill in for whatever they had to do."

Most of the time Tucker spent her days as a sales clerk in the furniture store. But she also helped sew drapery and curtain hems. "It was not easy to do."

Deciding to end her career wasn't easy either. She didn't quit working until she reached 72. Tucker left Cape Girardeau for a few years to live in St. Louis and worked at a Famous-Barr store there until she retired.

"She comes from good stock," said her daughter, LaDon Scott. Tucker's great-grandmother lived to be 97 and her great-aunt lived to be 92. Tucker is the only member of the family to reach 100.