BROUSSARD, La. (KLFY) – With her family and friends calling her “Aunt Lil”, Lela Bergeaux, 90 of Broussard says she feels wonderful.

“I think that’s another secret, doing hard work just never stopping,” Bergeaux stated. She shares a few secrets to her longevity.  “If you don’t keep working or keep doing, your body just gives up,” Aunt Lil added.

Bergeaux was born in Elton, but moved to stay with family in Abbeville. She says she wanted to experience a larger city. Eventually, the family moved to New Orleans, and she moved with them. “I went to nursing school there. I met my husband there, had a child and we moved back to Texas.”

Once in Texas, Aunt Lil went to work for an aircraft company. “I decided I wanted to work for the aircraft company because they paid big money.” She did a three-year stint in California for the company working on a B-2 Stealth Bomber. Aunt Lil says she was a secretary. “It was a big top-secret project. That was a lot of fun out in the desert. Three hours one way or three hours the other way you can go to the mountains or go to the beach.”

Aunt Lil retired, but went back to work. This time she worked for a postal equipment company and sold real estate on the weekends. “I bought some property in Lake Fork, Texas. It’s about 1/2 hour from Tyler,” Aunt Lil said.

Aunt Lil believes in staying active. She has one son, three grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren. “Every morning I do a 45-minute exercise before I ever get out of bed because once I get out of bed, I know I’ll be too busy to stop, not too busy because I don’t stop.”

Aunt Lil says she’s blessed. She has a lot of friends from school who she keeps in touch with. She’s part of a graduating class of 200 students. “We’re down to 17. My days are numbered, but I’m not counting them. I’m just saying, but yes, I am blessed with good health,” Aunt Lil smiled.

Related Stories