El Paso great-grandma celebrates 100th birthday with parade

EL PASO, Texas -- An El Paso great-grandmother didn't let the pandemic stop her centennial birthday party.

"She woke up this morning and said, 'Did I make it?'" her son, Grant explained with a chuckle. "'Yeah, you made it.'"

Cleola L. Berry turned 100 this weekend, with her family members and friends packing the streets of her neighborhood east of Lee Trevino Drive for a birthday parade.

"I think she deserves it all," her son said.

He called his mother a freedom fighter. He said she was inducted into the El Paso Commission for Women Hall of Fame. He also said she was the first black chairwoman of the women's department of the El Paso Chamber of Commerce.

"I have my good days and I have my bad days," Berry said. "But I thank God for all the reasons those good days and bad days still be upon us."

She has three children, nine grandchildren, 14 great-grandchildren and six great-great grandchildren.

"We are just so proud of her," her son told ABC-7.