When Elizabeth Blum was born, Teddy Roosevelt was in his second term as president, the United States’ economy was reeling from the collapse of Knickerbocker Trust Company and the Chicago Cubs won the Major League Baseball World Series.

Wednesday, Blum turned 105, celebrating with friends and family at Heritage House Retirement Center.

“Well, I don’t get too excited these days, but I’m pretty pleased,” Blum said.

Andrea Alexander is the activities coordinator at Heritage House.

“Mrs. Blum is extremely happy about this,” Alexander said. “We’ve been planning this for over a month. It’s very unique to have a 105th birthday party.”

Blum’s birthday makes her 11 years and 94 days younger than the world’s oldest living person, Besse Cooper. Cooper, 116, lives in Monroe, Ga.

Blum was born in Warren County as Elizabeth Blackburn to James and Rebecca Blackburn, in 1907.

The oldest of four children, Blum received her education from Jeff Davis Academy.

When she was 17, she moved to Cincinnati and began working in a beauty shop in Shillito’s Department Store. The store owner sent Blum to New York to receive training in cosmetology.

After finishing cosmetology school, Blum returned to Cincinnati and began working as a skin specialist. She was one of the first beauticians to use laser hair removal.

Her talents as a beautician were so impressive that she moved to Hollywood to work on makeup and hair-removal for actors and actresses. She later returned to Cincinnati where she served as a clothes coordinator for models at Shillito’s. While working at Shillito’s, she met her husband, Harry Blum — a parks commissioner — at a dance.

The couple wed during the Great Depression and lived in Cincinnati for 40 years before they moved to Dallas, where Elizabeth Blum became a cosmetology teacher for several years before moving to Jackson. Harry Blum took a job managing apartments while she continued teaching beauty school. She would go on to serve as the coordinator of the Mississippi School for Cosmetology until her husband died in 1979.

She then took over the apartment managing before returning to Vicksburg for retirement. She was the first resident of the Magnolia Manor Apartments and lived there for 22 years before moving to Heritage House in 2004.

When asked what her secret was to long life, Blum, a longtime member of the First Baptist Church of Vicksburg who still attends Bible study at Heritage House, was quick to answer.

“I trust in the Lord,” she said.