It’s not often a person with a less than 5-foot stature can leave the footprint of a giant.

But that’s exactly what Cel Etheredge did.

Miss Cel, as she was affectionately known throughout the county, passed away Feb. 22 at the age of 97.

Although she lived for nearly a century, Miss Cel’s contributions and charitable work with the Red Cross is more than most people could do in three lifetimes.

For nearly 75 years, Miss Cel organized blood drives in the county, ranging from her annual Alabama-Auburn drive in the fall to her birthday drive each December.

Anyone who ever met Miss Cel knows she was one feisty gal.

Her determination and passion for volunteer work is an example we should all follow.

She simply would not take “no” as an answer.

The thought of working as hard and as diligently as Miss Cel did for nearly 75 years without getting paid would be baffling to some, but it’s just who she was.

When one of our reporters recently spoke with Miss Cel, she told him about a dream she had where she awoke crying because in her dream no one remembered her 100th birthday.

Our reporter told Miss Cel that the problem would not be that no one would remember her 100th birthday, but rather that people would probably do too much to celebrate it.

Although she never made it to that birthday, it’s certain no one will ever forget Miss Cel.