Centenarian: Naomi Haynes

Hyde Park resident Naomi Haynes has always wanted to see the Great Pyramids of Giza. They’re on her bucket list, she says, but at 102, she doesn’t know that she’ll make it there. Not that she hasn’t traveled — one of Naomi’s most memorable experiences was walking the Great Wall of China. But every time she tried to go to Egypt, political unrest in the area kept her home.

Naomi grew up in rural Kentucky and after college moved to Chicago, where she met her husband and had two sons. “When the boys were growing up, I wanted summers off to be with them,” she says. So Naomi figured out how to make that happen. She returned to school to get a teaching certificate and then found a job teaching first and second grade, which gave her summers off to spend with her sons.

“I was the craziest first-grade teacher you’ve ever known,” Naomi says. “I miss my little sponges. I loved first graders. They’re so adorable. They come to you, and they’re there to absorb everything you can give them. You can be as crazy as they are, and you can learn with them. It’s wonderful.”

Naomi taught for 22 years and retired after she turned 55. She stayed curious about the world and involved in the community, which kept her going, especially after several strokes.

“I just kept breathing,” she says. “I can’t tell you any real reason why I’ve lived this long.”

Naomi doesn’t have many regrets aside from not finishing her master’s degree. She nearly did but says she put it on the back burner and never turned on the gas underneath. And she has an even bigger regret — but says she’ll never tell that one: “I’m going to take it to my grave with me.” 

Regardless of her regrets, Naomi says she always did her best. And she believes that’s the meaning of life.

“Don’t go around spending your time being unhappy or hating anything,” she says. “You’ll accomplish nothing. Just accept people and the things around you, and live and enjoy the things around you. Every day you wake up in the morning is a beautiful day.”

Live that day, Naomi says. “Love, enjoy, and give back to the world the best you can.” And don’t forget to see that world, too. Naomi may still get to Egypt; she has always found a way to do what she wanted to do.

Above photo by Jim Vondruska

Originally published in the Summer/Fall 2025 print issue.