FLEMING ISLAND – Lucille LeCouvre will turn 100 on Sunday, Nov. 22.

She’s lived through the War to End all Wars – twice – and watched man defeat polio and walk on the moon. She’s survived several pandemics, watched 18 different men be elected as the President of the United States, cried when terrorists attack the country on Sept. 11 and was part of a generation that transformed living rooms into entertainment centers with the invention of the television.

Partially isolated by threats created by COVID-19, LeCourve is still quick-witted, active and happy. Life is too short to dwell on the negative, she said.

“There’s always tomorrow,” she said during a visit from her niece, Shann Mills, at Allegro on Fleming Island.

Another thing that helps is a glass of red wine every night after dinner.

LeCouvre was born at her mother’s home on Nov. 22, 1920. Days earlier, William Harding has just been elected as the 29th president. There was no indoor plumbing in the house in Midway, Pennsylvania, and she walked to and from school, as well as walking home for lunch, every day.

She was one of 20 graduating high school seniors in 1938. She married one of her classmates, Leonard LeCourve, in 1984. She worked as the Director of Consumer Affairs for Equitable Gas, appearing at the 1964 World’s Fair in New York to demonstrate how to make fondue.

Her husband died after 27 years of marriage. She lived at San Diego until she fell and broke her hip in 2015. She moved to Fleming Island to be closer to family and has been a happy resident at Allegro since.

“First, I hope to get out of bed every morning,” LeCouvre said with chuckle. “They keep you busy here at Allegro. There are a lot of things to do. I look forward to lunch because there are other people around. Now we can go outside again to get some fresh air.”

Like other long-term care facilities in Florida, Allegro was required to isolate residents and prohibit them from any outside contact from March to September. Rules have relaxed some, but visitors still aren’t allowed inside the facility. Allegro set up a room where family and visitors can enter from the outside and the resident can enter from the hallway.

“It really wasn’t that big of a deal,” LeCouvre said. “What was bad was when they closed the hair salon and the dining rooms. Now that they’re back open, it’s getting back to normal.”

That includes the return of Happy Hour at the facility.

“I like a good Cabernet,” she said.

LeCouvre said she loves to read, talk with family, play trivia and stay mentally active.

“I still have all my mental facilities,” she said.

Allegro will have a private party for LeCouvre. There will be cake, but no outside visitors.

By the time she turns 101, she believes things will be better.

“It always gets better,” she said.