Navy veteran credits peanut butter for her 104 years
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In Boston, Massachusetts, documentarian Kara Lewis met Ella, a 104-year-old Navy veteran, and asked to share her story.
Ella joined the Navy in 1943 during World War Two, forming a friendship with a fellow service member that lasted 81 years. She later worked as a store keeper and a bus driver, raising three children and now enjoying four great-great-grandchildren.
Ella’s daughter, Robin, noted a humorous side effect of her mother’s age, computer systems sometimes struggle to process birthdates so far in the past. The family celebrated Ella’s approaching 105th birthday by discussing a hip-hop dance party. When Lewis asked Ella her secret to a long and healthy life, Ella attributed it to a lifelong habit of eating peanut butter, specifically Skippy brand.
She advised others to “take every day at a time and enjoy life,” and Lewis commemorated the meeting by gifting Ella a teddy bear and a jar of her favourite peanut butter. As of April 2026, Ella turned 105 and appeared in an interview with ABC 10 News.
