KEYSTONE HEIGHTS — Every day the Earth turns, Theron David Whidden Jr. wakes up with gratitude and purpose. 

On Jan. 8, he celebrated his 100th trip around the sun. He said that although he knows not everyone reaches such an age, he holds the position in a high esteem.

"The Lord was good to me and allowed me to become 100."

A World War II veteran, Whidden grew up in Earleton. But later moved to the Keystone Heights area at a young age.

In the 1930s, Whidden said his family used to travel from Earleton to Lake Santa Fe. His mother and father loved fishing, and the lake was the perfect place for it. During one trip, Whidden said his father heard that someone was selling plots of land towards the north end of the lake. Each cost $500 at the time.

"I think it was $50 down and $10 a month," Whidden said.

His father began telling family, friends and anyone he could get a hold of about the deal. And soon, it became a tight-knit neighborhood. At the time, there was only a dirt road from State Road 21.

Whidden and his family used their plot as a Saturday getaway. His father, who owned a welding shop in Jacksonville, had built a one-room shack. 

"Friday night, you would lock everything up, and we'd get in the car and come to Keystone and go to Santa Fe," he said.

Whidden enlisted in the U.S. Army a few years later during World War II. In the 1940s, he was appointed as an aviation cadet. He began basic training in Miami and was later sent to Alabama. 

"About that time, the war in Europe started slowing down. And people were coming back from overseas and going to pilot training," he said.

Whiddon said being a pilot was where everyone wanted to be. He signed up as a volunteer for an engineering school in Texas. He was sent home after the war ended in 1945. 

A few months later, he joined the National Guard to avoid being drafted. He served for 30 more years before officially retiring as a colonel.

In 2021, Whidden was awarded the Florida Pioneer Descendant Settlers and Builders of Florida Certificate. Carrying the Whidden name, he is a descendant of some of Bartow's earliest settlers. Five miles south of the town, Whidden Creek holds traces of their legacy.

"I can remember taking trips with my mom and dad, and we would get into that section of Florida down there. My grandad would say, 'Yeah, that's cousin Ralph's place there.'"

Although he doesn't necessarily have a secret to living to 100, he said he has continued to live a life full of discoveries and adventure.