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After 105 years of life, longtime Edwardsville resident Pearl Branchcomb has died but not without leaving behind many words of wisdom to those around her.

As one of her caretakers, Lana Nevils, said, "Ms. Branchcomb was always talking about something. She may not have been educated, but she always had a lot of wisdom."

Branchcomb died Saturday, July 12.

She was born May 14, 1903, in O'Neal, Ark., the third of five children. She married Estes Winner Branchcomb in April 1920, and the couple traveled around small towns throughout Arkansas and Oklahoma before settling down in Edwardsville.

In 1944 Branchcomb and her husband bought a 4 1/2-acre property on 94th Street in Edwardsville. There the couple built their house by hand. Branchcomb lived in the house until June 2007, when she went to live with Nevils and her sister, Armetta Young, and their father.

Nevils had known Branchcomb since she was a child, when Branchcomb was friends with Nevils' grandmother. But it wasn't until this past year, Nevils said, she really got to see and experience everything Branchcomb had to offer.

"She knew current events and could go back and tell you about older things," Nevils said. "She could go through the time of horse and buggy days to right where we are now. It was amazing how she could do that."

Nevils said she suspects that Branchcomb was holding on to live as long as she could to reach her 105th birthday in May. She celebrated her birthday with a party attended by about 50 people from as far as Hawaii, California, Massachusetts and Michigan. Guests included many friends and family members, as well as several children she had baby-sat.

While Branchcomb and her husband never had children of their own, Nevils said Branchcomb was known as the neighborhood baby sitter and was constantly talking about the hundreds of children she baby-sat that made her life so happy over the years.

"She loved children even though she didn't have any," Nevils said. "She just loved the children."

Because of all the connections and friends she made across many generations of families, Nevils said many people considered Branchcomb their own personal family historian. Nevils said if anyone ever wanted to know anything about his or her own grandparents or great-grandparents, Branchcomb was the person to ask.

The one lesson, however, that Nevils said she would always remember is something Branchcomb said often.

"She always said 'You can't change anything that happens, so why worry,'" Nevils said. "She had low stress, and I believe that's why she lived so long."

For Nevils, Branchcomb will always be the "jolly little person," who taught her lessons about cooking, household tasks and random animal facts making it true that, "You learned something new every day with her," Nevils said.

To see Pearl Branchcomb's obituary, turn to page 10B.

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