NOCONA, Texas – The weather is always an important subject, as is the state of the crops.

But in this part of Montague County, conversations frequently turn to the subject of Lyle Sawyer.

Somebody will say they drove by his place one day and saw him working on the roof.

Someone else will mention seeing him on his tractor a while back, mowing. Then somebody will point out that during the cold snap, Sawyer was out breaking ice for his cattle. Sawyer’s life it isn’t much different from other folks who live around here. It’s just that he’s been at it longer.

He is 101 years old.

"He’s just a wonderful person. He works all the time," said Barbara Shaw, office manager of the Nocona Chamber of Commerce, where Sawyer has been a member since 1946. "He’d do anything to help a person. I can’t say enough about the fellow. He’s an inspiration to the town."

Sawyer is not sure what all the fuss is about. If there’s any credit to be given for his longevity, he said, his late wife Leta should receive it. After all, she kept the house in order, took care of the books for his retail dairy operation and kept him well-nourished with three square meals a day.

"She was one beautiful, smart lady," Sawyer said recently as he thumbed through pictures and documents that contain cherished memories from his lengthy past.

The two were married in 1922. But the early years weren’t filled with promise of a long life together. She suffered from a leaking heart valve caused by a childhood illness, her husband said. A doctor advised a move to a lower altitude, and the couple ended up in North Texas.

"The doctors in Wichita Falls cured the leaking valve in her heart, and she did real well," he said.

In fact, she lived until 1991, and they raised three sons. Their descendants include four great-great-grandchildren.

As a resolution from the City of Nocona points out, Sawyer has a good shot at seeing life in three centuries. He jokes that the first century was easy, and the second has been a little rough at times.

The document, signed by the mayor in honor of Sawyer’s 100th birthday in 1997, said the longtime Montague County resident has defied time.

He still does that every day.

Sawyer has about 50 head of cattle at his place near Nocona and drives to town regularly to visit friends in the nursing home and attend a men’s Bible class.

"What would I do with a car and two pickups if I didn’t drive?" he said.

Born July 8, 1897, when William McKinley was president, Sawyer grew up on a farm in northeast Iowa. He is the last of seven children.

"We raised everything raised in Iowa -- corn, wheat, oats. We were the first in our neighborhood to get 108 bushels an acre of corn," he said.

He’s seen the world go through countless changes.

For those who think the Titanic was just a movie, he can recall the actual event.

He was a teen-ager in April 1912 when the supposedly unsinkable vessel struck an iceberg and sunk. He remembers getting his father’s Chicago Tribune from the mailbox and being amazed by the size of the blown-up headline announcing the news.

The Asian flu is a powerful memory, because it sidelined him for World War I and claimed the lives of friends and relatives.

Sawyer farmed in Montana, where he met his wife-to-be, who had become a teacher.

In this area, he worked many years for Conoco, and at the same time operated his dairy business in the rolling countryside near Nocona.

"When people first move in, like in moving from Montana to Texas, they think you talk funny," he said. "I told them they talk just as funny to me as I do to them. They accepted us real well. I’ve got lots of friends around Nocona."

Staying busy, he said, has kept him alive.

"There’s no secret to it. I’ve worked a lot more 18-hour days than I have eight-hour days," he said. "I’d be in the oil field eight hours, and another four to six hours I’d work at home. I always had an extra job."

Even now, he can’t stay seated for long without feeling the need to check on the cattle.

"When I’m happiest is when I’ve got lots to do. I love to work," he said. "I can’t imagine people loafing. It’s pretty hard for me to loaf."