A very special former flight attendant was recently thrown a birthday party by Delta Air Lines. Sybil Peacock Harmon celebrated her 102nd birthday and was one of the airline’s very first stewardesses.

Surrounded by family, friends, and airline staffers, Sybil was presented with a traditional Delta orchid, and pinned with a new set of flight attendant wings. Also on display were her original log books, her original 1940’s stewardess uniform, and a life-size cutout of Harmon in an iconic Delta marketing campaign.

Harmon was born in 1916 in Minden, La., and began her career with Delta in 1940 at the age of 24. She was a member of the carrier’s first-class stewardesses and given her role, was also required to be a registered nurse.

She remembers serving in-flight meals of fried chicken, potato salad, and Coke, as well as chewing gum to help with the cabin pressurization. She remembers young WWII pilots flying back to their bases after they had shuttled war planes to North Africa.

Sybil left Delta to serve in the Air Force herself in 1943 where she was promoted to First Lieutenant and married U.S. Army Captain Wallace Harmon. He had also worked for Delta as a reservations agent before the war started.

He returned to Delta as a District Director of Traffic and Sales in Dallas after the war ended, and the couple’s daughter, Peggy, also enjoyed a career with the carrier working as a flight attendant from 1973 to 2008.

Delta caught wind of Sybil’s upcoming birthday and decided to throw her a special celebration. At her party, Sybil offered a word of advice to young flight attendants at her party, “It’s a whole new world now. I am proud to have paved the way for the next generation.”

Be sure to share this heartwarming story with your family and friends and wish Sybil a big happy birthday!