John Wooten has seen a lot of changes in his short 95 years of life, and, while he admits some are great, he believes some are not quite so spectacular. The world keeps on changing, he said. A person can get used to one thing, and then something comes up that changes everything again, he noted.
Wooten said. “It’s a different world.”
At first, he said the invention of the television was great, but now he isn’t quite as sure, with some of the things on the air these days. But there is one invention that he absolutely loved: automatic transmission in vehicles.
“It would take half a day to go through town before it,” he said. He learned to drive with a manual transmission, and having to gear up and down made the journey longer.
He believed cellphones were a great invention, however, they can also be a nuisance.
One invention he had no interest in was the internet. In fact, he felt it is more detrimental to society because it provides more knowledge than most people know how to handle. He believed it had made the world too noisy with everything that is on it, and the world too small. He had his own way of spreading the news.
With mischief in his eyes, he said, “Telegraph, telephone and tell a woman.”
Wooten celebrated his 95th birthday on Sunday, and in front of his home on Church Street, were signs announcing his great accomplishment. Sitting in his sunroom overlooking a gorgeous backyard on Monday, Wooten reflected on his 95 years of life.
“It’s not very exciting,” Wooten said of turning 95.
He married Shirley, after they graduated high school together, and remained married for 71 years until she passed away last year. Together, they raised two children.
“I got one of each kind, that’s all I wanted,” Wooten said with a laugh.
He grew up in Laurel and, after graduating from high school there, joined the Navy.
While in the Navy, he was selected to attend officer’s candidate school. He later was chosen to head the ROTC program at Duke University in North Carolina. He was assigned to the U.S.S. Winston, a cargo ship named after Winston County, Mississippi. It was based in Norfolk, Va., where he served as an assistant engineering officer and assistant navigator.
He was later transferred to Key West, Fla., where he was assigned to sonar operations. He wanted to train with submarines, however, his wife was not crazy about it, so he went on inactive duty.
He said, at that time, Key West was not very big and the Navy was the largest industry there. He said President Harry Truman would travel there frequently.
In 1950, he left the Navy and joined Mississippi Power Company in the engineering department. He and his family moved to Columbia in 1962, when he took over as manager of the Columbia operation. He was the manager when Hurricane Camille hit in 1969.
“Camille just about killed me,” Wooten said looking back.
Not long after the hurricane, he was offered a job with the City of Columbia, which he accepted. He continued to work for the city until he retired in 1991. He also served on the Chamber of Commerce, including serving as president.
He taught Sunday school for the men’s class at First United Methodist Church for 45 years, and he quipped that he finally stopped because he taught them everything he knew.
He offered the advice of realizing that life does not always go smoothly. Once that concept is understood, life can flow more smoothly.
Now he spends his days watching television and visiting with friends, noting how proud he is of the many friends he has accumulated over the years.
“I have a multitude of friends. I have more friends than money,” he said.
Wooten doesn’t complain about that either. In his eyes, people can make it without having a lot of money, they but cannot exist without friends. While he feels the world is very monetary-focused, he knows that isn’t important because money isn’t something they can take with them when it is their time to die.
“I just hope when I leave here, people will say ‘Well don’t he look natural?’” Wooten said with a laugh.
