LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) – JoCleta Wilson has the distinct honor of being the oldest Home Depot employee in the entire country, and she lives in Louisville.
Two mornings a week you’ll find her at the Westport Road Home Depot from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m.
”That’s when I’m 100%. After that, you only get 50% of me,” she joked.
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.
She drinks a little wine, with a lot of water.
“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.
Wilson bought a piano at 90 and is teaching herself.
Her life hasn’t been easy at times.
”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,”
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.
Wilson says she’d consider dating, but he must be younger than her.
”Especially has to be able to dance,” she said. “And a good leader because I can follow.”
Wilson’s outlook, creating a fulfilling, long life, is something we can all follow. She has even written a cookbook called Make Them Think You Can Cook with recipes she collected during her time dancing around the world in supper clubs. Part of the proceeds she gave to Special Olympics Kentucky, as she had two children with special needs, one has since passed.
Home Depot is planning a birthday party for her at the store.
Copyright 2024 WAVE. All rights reserved.
