A North Texas man celebrated his 100th birthday Monday with a Cinco de Mayo celebration. Bill Nickell was born in Iowa May 5, 1925.
"It's unbelieveable. I feel just great," he says. "I've had a wonderful life and career."
Nickell has ten grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren. He flew for the Army in World War II from 1943 to 1945 but remained stateside training other pilots.
Nickell then returned to Iowa and worked at a flight school. He ultimately moved to Texas and became a pilot for Braniff International until it went out of business in 1982. He continued as a charter pilot for several years after that.
Nickell now lives at Edgemere Senior Living in Dallas. For his birthday, family members and other residents packed a party with music, food and gifts.
"I think the Lord Jesus Christ has just kept me as well as I am," he says. "God is good."
Asked if he has advice for people who hope to live to 100, Nickell says, "That's a gift from God. There isn't any key to it. I was just blessed with it."
Nickell retired after several years as a charter pilot. Now, he says he stays busy with hobbies, and he continues learning new technologies.
"I do a fair amount of texting, emailing and trying to learn things I'm interested in," he says.
On an average day, Nickell says he will have breakfast with 20 others at Edgemere where they "talk about politics, current events, experiences we've had and just a lot of fun." He says he then plays bridge three days a week and works with electronics.
Holly Worrell, the director of lifestyles at Edgemere, says the facility aims to get to know each resident, their family, history and interests.
"We do personalized care so we can get them plugged in and doing activities they like to do to keep them young, thriving and engaged," she says.
Nickell says he continued riding a bicycle until 2017 and talked with another resident during the party about how they both enjoyed skiing. Worrell says Edgemere tries to recreate hobbies residents enjoy.
"If they had to give up golf, we have a golf simulator. We have an indoor swimming pool, physical therapy and a lot of different games," she says. "We keep them in touch with friends and families. We post pictures of their loved ones so they can see all the things they're doing. We have everything for the mind, body and spirit."