WILTON – Resting quietly in her chair Wednesday, Edna Davis prepared for another big day in her life. She’ll celebrate a milestone birthday Saturday. She was born on Oct. 13, 1907.

Town Manager Peter Nielsen gave Davis the Boston Post Cane last Friday to honor her as Wilton’s oldest citizen. A resident of Wilton for the past 28 years, Davis still maintains an apartment at the senior housing units on Eastern Avenue with the help of her daughter, Katherine Burbank of Wilton, who stops in three times a day to help prepare meals and take care of other duties.

“It’s amazing that we still have a parent,” said 77-year-old Burbank.

The family, including her siblings, Dorothy Perry, 79, of Canton and Guy Davis, 74, of New Vineyard, will hold an open house for Davis from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday at her home for people who would like to stop by and wish her a happy birthday. Turning 100 years old didn’t seem to phase Davis as she tried to share her thoughts, but on Wednesday she relied on her daughter to tell of her life.

A survivor of three different types of cancer and presently dealing with a relapse, Davis wasn’t sure what to say helped her reach this age.

“She never smoked and never drank,” Burbank said, “and worked hard while being active in her church.”

One of 11 children, she was born in New Sharon and raised in Vienna, where she married Carl Davis and resided there until a move in 1938 to Farmington Falls. In Vienna, the family owned a small farm with animals, and vegetables were grown for local canning shops. Sap was collected and boiled into maple syrup, Burbank said.

Davis started to work for what was later called Maine Dowel Mill. The company had an operation in Vienna, Burbank said, where her mother started and then she changed to the Farmington location. She completed 42 years of working for that one company. During the war, many of the women in the mill, including her mother, did men’s jobs too, she added.

Davis sold doughnuts and cookies at break time in the mill to earn a little extra, Burbank said.

She also boarded an older woman and then ran a boarding room for hunters while she was in Farmington Falls, Burbank said.

After her move to Wilton, Davis volunteered for many years at SeniorsPlus, collecting money and setting tables.

She also continued to drive well into her 90s, she said.