RANCHO MURIETA, CA (MPG) - What does it take to live a meaningful life?

On Sunday, Aug. 23, Rancho Murieta Community Church found one answer not only in the biblical book of Ecclesiastes, but in the life of Betty Fehman Thomas, whose 104th birthday happened to coincide with the church’s Church at the Lake outdoor worship service.

The coincidence inspired Pastor Phil Fuller to weave her story into his sermon on Ecclesiastes. A video shown during the service chronicled her 104 years, from growing up in Missouri and working as a wartime aircraft rivet inspector to a lifetime of faith that Fuller said made her “a great illustration” of the biblical message about living a meaningful life.

More than 900 people attended the lakeside service overlooking Lake Clementia, where the congregation watched the video tribute before Fuller continued his sermon.

“You know, if you want to know how to make this life meaningful, take it from somebody who’s lived over a century,” Fuller told the congregation. “Remember God, put Him first in your life, keep your eyes and your heart focused on Him.”

Her story began Aug. 23, 1922, in Garden City, Missouri. Raised in a Christian home, Thomas recalled that her mother made sure the family never missed church. As a teenager, she was baptized at First Baptist Church in Garden City, an experience she credits with shaping the decisions she made throughout her life.

“I think doing that when I was a teenager, I knew when to say no or when to say yes,” she said in the video. “I think that kept me out of a lot of trouble.”

A self-described tomboy, Thomas preferred climbing trees with her brother to learning to cook or sew with her mother and sister. Her daughter, Maxine Feil, said the family later moved through Arizona before settling in California, where Thomas graduated from Phoenix Union High School.

One of the video’s most memorable stories centered on her courtship with her future husband, Charlie.

The two met at a Valentine’s party at a Baptist church in Prescott, Arizona. At first, Thomas wasn’t interested.

“I was still a cowboy,” she recalled with a smile.

When Charlie asked to drive her home, she refused to ride alone with him, insisting that a girlfriend come along. Later, when he proudly offered to pick her up in a friend’s car, she again declined because she hardly knew him. Instead, the two walked across town together, and he came back to see her every night after that.

World War II interrupted their romance. Charlie entered the Army expecting to serve one year, but remained in the South Pacific for nearly four years. When he finally returned unexpectedly, Thomas was at her mother’s home in California, wearing hair curlers.

“I couldn’t look any worse,” she laughed. “But he still loved me.”

Three days later, on Easter Sunday, April 1, 1945, they were married.

During World War II, Thomas worked as a rivet inspector on Lockheed P-38 fighter planes, making sure every rivet on the aircraft wings met exacting standards before the planes left the factory. After the war, she built a 31-year career with Bank of America, advancing from teller to branch manager in Orange County.

Thomas and her husband raised daughters Karen and Maxine in Santa Ana, where they were active members of Bristol Street Southern Baptist Church, volunteering in the nursery and with young adults. After Charlie died in 1976, Thomas moved to Las Vegas to live with her sister before joining Maxine in Rancho Murieta in 2009. Until failing eyesight slowed her down, she enjoyed gardening, mowing the lawn and pruning roses. She remains active in church Bible studies and treasures time with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Throughout the video, however, Thomas repeatedly returned to the role faith has played throughout her life.

“Prayer is very, very important,” she said. “I talk with God. He’s on my mind all the time. Everything I do, I think, ‘Well, God, would You approve of this? Would You approve of that?’ It’s just normal.”

She said she ends each day by reciting the Lord’s Prayer.

“It just seems necessary to wrap it up for the evening,” she said.

Fuller said he had planned to preach on Ecclesiastes Chapter 12, which urges believers to remember their Creator throughout life. When he realized the service would fall on her 104th birthday, he believed her life beautifully illustrated the message.

Rather than a private birthday party, Feil said her mother wanted to celebrate by sharing the day with the congregation.

“This was her party,” Feil wrote. “She was glad to be at ‘Church at the Lake’ and share with everybody. It was a perfect day being with friends and her family.”

For Thomas, the measure of a meaningful life did not come in years alone.

“I’ve had a very meaningful life,” she said. “I’m very, very happy.”