Rebecca Fannie Dawkins of West Columbia has passed away at age 103.

News of her passing was posted last week on the Turner Memorial AME Church Facebook page.

The post read: “It is with mixed emotions that we share with you the homegoing of 103 year old Sis Rebecca Fannie Dawkins. She was blessed with longevity. A long and rich life God bless[ed] her with.

“We will miss her on this side, but I’m sure she has been welcomed by the Angels in Heaven. Please pray for the family and The Turner Memorial AME Church Family!”

Dawkins celebrated her 103rd birthday in February.

She was honored by the City of West Columbia as its eldest living resident.

“She is a sweet, God-fearing woman,” said West Columbia Councilman Mickey Pringle in a 2019 interview. “She would help anyone she could.”

Dawkins was a cosmetologist in West Columbia for 40 years. Until recently, she lived for 70 years in the same house off 12th Street, built by her father.

Born in Fairfield County in 1917, Dawkins went to New Brookland High School and Clinton Junior College. She obtained her cosmetology license from Pope Beauty School.

In a 2017 interview, Dawkins said “living right,” was her explanation for her long life. She also said she prayed every day for everybody in the community.

Dawkins comes from a family of 13 children. Her grandfather, Milton Meadows, lived to be 106.

“When he died, there was nothing wrong with him, except he said his foot hurt,” Dawkins said in her 2017 interview.