Oklahoma Woman Celebrates 104th Birthday

A woman whose family came to Oklahoma in a covered wagon wagon celebrated her 104th birthday Monday. Ruby May McFarland came to Oklahoma from Arizona after her mother died during the Great Flu Pandemic of 1918. 

Even though she had to milk 15 cows a day before walking to school, Ruby still managed to be valedictorian of Strong City High School's 1929 graduating class. McFarland went on to raise a family, and worked with troubled children at Oklahoma City's Sunbeam Family Services for many years. 

Her daughter, Margaret Lawrence said her mother is her hero. “As far as I'm concerned there could not be on the face of the earth a better mother than mother,” she said. 

Lawrence said Ruby is a resident of Meadowlake Estates in Oklahoma City.