Associated Press
SALUDA, S.C. — Lois Crouch Matheny Addy, who baby-sat for Sen. Strom Thurmond when he was a boy and always voted for him, has died. She was 109.
Addy, a retired schoolteacher and principal, died Monday at the Saluda Nursing Center.
"Mrs. Lois was such a fine lady and took good care of me and all the other children," said Thurmond, who turned 99 on Wednesday.
Addy often was interviewed on election days when she cast her vote for the nation’s oldest and longest-serving senator.
In a 1995 interview, she recalled taking care of a young Thurmond, whose father was law partner with Addy’s brother-in-law.
"The easiest way to entertain him was riding horseback," she said. "We felt like he was our little brother."
She also recalled meeting Woodrow Wilson at a reception the day he was inaugurated as president in 1913.
"You never saw such fireworks and goings on as it was that night," she said. "It was fantastic. That’s the highlight of my life."
Addy said that she had gone to the polls for every national election since women were allowed to vote in 1920.
"I’ve always supported Strom Thurmond, and I still intend to," she said in 1996, when he ran for his last term. "It’s the brain that counts, not his physical condition. As long as you have a good, workable brain, you’re fit for office."
Copyright ©2001 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
