SILVIS, Ill. — May 5, 2023 is officially Nellie Muños day in Silvis, Illinois. The oldest living resident of Hero Street is celebrating her 100th birthday.
The Guadalupe Catholic Church was full of love, packed with six generations of family and friends. Over the course of the evening, more than 300 people packed themselves into the church.
"It's not full yet, it's still building. Yeah, this is the calm," said Lacy Muños, great-granddaughter of Nellie Muños.
Lacy Muños and her family traveled from Arizona for the party. For her, traveling with a teething toddler to attend the celebration was worth it.
"She is an angel walking this Earth," Lacy Muños said.
That's a sentiment shared by the whole family.
"She's been everything to me, my brother, my cousins… all of our family," said Brian Muños, Nellie Muños grandson. "Celebrating 100 years of an incredible, giving, caring, loving, devoted woman who's been a mother to pretty much everyone you see here in this room."
The oldest living resident of Hero Street is a hero to her family. Born in California May 5, 1923, on Cinco de Mayo, Nellie Muños and her family traveled across the country to Illinois.
"She grew up in a railroad yard down in Silvis," Brian Muños said. "After being dismissed from the railroad yard, they made their way to 4th St."
At the age of eighteen she met her husband, Joe Muños, and they moved to Hero St. where she has lived ever since.
And Nellie Muños' secret to a long happy life?
According to Brian Muños, "We asked her the other day what her secret was, and her answer was 'family and faith.'"
Both of which have been an integral part of Nellie Muños' life.
Nellie Muños' family expects her to continue inspiring future generations of Muños children.
"She'll be here for 25 more years," Lacy Muños said.
The leader of her family, Nellie Muños enjoyed her throne for a day.
"I feel like a Queen," Nellie Muños said.