Greensboro woman, health care worker Mattie Cressey turns 100
Mattie Cressey reached 100 at Heritage Greens in Greensboro, carrying a life that began in Greene County and centered on health care and family memory.
Mattie Cressey spent her century in North Carolina building a life around care, family and community, and Greensboro marked the milestone with a celebration at Heritage Greens. The resident turned 100 on June 10, a birthday that fit a woman remembered by loved ones for her work in health care, her love of basketball and the way she always liked to dress up and look her best.
Cressey was born in Greene County and grew up in an era when Greensboro, Guilford County and much of North Carolina looked very different from the city she calls home now. Her family says she is the last surviving sibling among eight brothers and sisters, a detail that makes her 100th birthday more than a personal milestone. It is also a closing chapter in a large family story that has stretched across generations.
Her long life also reflects the changing role of senior living in Greensboro. Heritage Greens, where Cressey lives, describes itself as a central Greensboro community offering independent living, assisted living and memory care, and says it has been part of the community for more than 40 years. The celebration placed Cressey not just as a birthday honoree, but as a living thread connecting the city’s present-day senior care network with the lives that helped shape it.
Cressey’s age stands out even in a state where the oldest residents are becoming more visible. The U.S. Census Bureau says centenarians made up about 2 out of every 10,000 people in the 2020 Census, and the number of Americans age 100 and older rose from 53,364 in 2010 to 80,139 in 2020. North Carolina counted 3,781 centenarians in 2025 and projects 14,844 by 2050, a sharp rise that puts Cressey’s milestone into a broader demographic shift.
The numbers are significant in Guilford County too. The county’s estimated population in 2025 was 562,234, and Greensboro’s was 308,667. Guilford County is 16.5% age 65 and older, while Greensboro is 14.4%, showing how much of the region’s future will be shaped by older adults, their families and the places that care for them.
Cressey’s 100th birthday was a family celebration, but it also read like a small piece of Greensboro history: a woman from Greene County who worked in health care, raised a family legacy of eight siblings and lived long enough to see the city change around her.
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