Susan Young Browne is a retired elementary school teacher and the oldest living alumni of Delaware State University
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Susan Young Browne.
Susan Young Browne just turned 108 years old and opened up about how she has aged so “gracefully” in a new interview.
The Dover, Del., resident celebrated her 108th birthday at Whatcoat United Methodist Church on Saturday, May 2, with over 130 people, including Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer, according to Delaware outlet Bay to Bay News. In a new sit-down chat with CBS News Philadelphia, Browne opened up about her active lifestyle.
Browne, a retired teacher, is one of the original members of Dover’s Modern Maturity Center, per CBS News. The 108-year-old recently walked into a workout class at the center to someone telling her, “You are the spotlight,” per CBS News.
The centenarian, born in 1918 in Houston, Del., works out at the center three times a week, and has been doing the same movements to start her day for two decades, she told CBS News. Staying active has always been a part of her life, she said.
At 108, she also still gets behind the wheel and has her own reserved parking spot for drivers over the age of 100. “They renewed my driver’s license until 2033,” she told CBS News.
“I grow old gracefully,” Browne told the outlet.
She is the oldest living alum of Delaware State University (DSU), and may also be the longest-living graduate in DSU history, the university said, noting that “further research is needed.” (At the time, it was called Delaware State College for Colored Students, according to CBS News.)
After graduating from DSU in 1945 with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education, she spent three decades as a teacher, according to Bay to Bay News and CBS News.
Browne taught at several institutions, including Fairview Elementary School, Ellendale Elementary School, John Wesley Elementary School, Lockwood Elementary School and finally, Booker T. Washington Elementary School in Dover, Bay to Bay News reported.
After Dover schools were integrated in 1965, Browne began working at Fairview Elementary School and stayed there until 1977, according to Bay to Bay News. “I had to adjust the same as the children had to adjust,” she previously said of the experience.
“Students accepted you as their teacher,” she said. “I didn’t have any problem with them.”
Browne is also known for her sense of humor, which was on full display as she joked about her love life in her sit-down with CBS News.
“I guess I’m not great material for men,” Browne said with a laugh.
The retired teacher’s first husband James Young died in 1988, and her second husband, Dr. Clifton Browne, died in 2001, according to DSU. “That was enough,” she told CBS News. “I’m not taking care of another man.”
Browne — who is now a mother, grandmother and great-grandmother — arrived at her 108th birthday party alongside her son, James W. Young. Her daughter, Lynette Young Overby, hosted the event, which Gov. Meyer said he attended to take notes.
The governor told Browne, “I came to learn from you what I need to do to live so long,” according to Bay to Bay News.
