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"It's really no secret," Rothwell told Daily Voice. "I don't want to say that I'm lucky that I lived this long, because I'm not lucky. It's God's choice, not mine."
An active lifestyle may have helped, though. Rothwell kept busy as a bus driver, nanny, and caring for her 10 children.
Her family continued to grow over the decades to include 24 grandchildren, 38 great-grandchildren, and 10 great-great-grandchildren.
"All her life she's always been very busy," her daughter Carolyn Miller said, noting how her mother also used to care for a chicken farm they once had.
Born in October 1909, Rothwell lived in Prospect Park before moving to Hawthorne in 1976. She can remember a very different, quieter Hawthorne from her earlier days.
"Goffle Road is now like a highway rather than a short country road," she said. "I liked the park even before they made it into a beauty park."
Rothwell still spends time going through the park, visiting Christian Health Care Center, and listening to audio books.
Her granddaughter, Karin Van Dalen, said Rothwell was a great baker too.
"I used to love to sleep over her house because she'd make these great buckwheat pancakes," Van Dalen said. "I always thought they were the best."
Rothwell had to have one leg amputated when she was 97, but still learned to walk with it, Miller said.
"She's an amazing lady," Miller said.
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