The story behind the name of Healthy Harvey’s, a nutritional store, may be a secret, but 85-year-old Connie Standifer’s story is anything but a mystery.

Standifer, who owns Healthy Harvey’s in Pelham and Alabaster, takes dozens of supplements each day, but she doesn’t take any pharmaceutical drugs.

Never has, never will.

“I don’t do medicine,” Standifer said. “I’ve never had medicine in my life.”

As the mother of four children, Standifer never took her kids to the doctor, instead treating them with vitamins and home remedies.

Although Standifer was able to keep her children healthy through their adolescent years, modern medicine was not able to save her husband, Dan, who died from complications during an open-heart surgery in 1976.

Following Dan’s death, Standifer decided to turn her passion for supplements and healthy living into a career.

So, in 1978, Standifer opened Healthy Harvey’s in Pelham, and the business has been thriving for the last 31 years.

And even though the 85-year-old still has the appearance of the 54-year-old who opened the business, her blood pressure started to rise a few years ago and some people, including a few of her children, recommended she turn to modern medicine.

“I still have the unopened bottle of the blood pressure medicine because my children insisted I have it,” Standifer said. “But I could never take it and lie to my customer.”

Among the things Standifer takes each day to ward off diseases and to build stamina and strength are vitamin C, garlic, potassium, an agility formula, a blood pressure formula and a mega multivitamin she swears by.

“And I’ve never raised the price on it in 31 years,” Standifer said of her mega multivitamin.

But even though she believes in a healthy dose of supplements, she believes supplements should come second.

“It’s prayer first and then nutrition,” Standifer said. “That’s the way to keep your health.”

And at 85, she has no plans of slowing down anytime soon.

“Lord no,” Standifer said of giving up her job. “I don’t want to sit at home.”

The Pelham Healthy Harvey’s is located at 3183 F Pelham Parkway, while the Alabaster location is at 37 Buck Creek Plaza. For more information, call the Pelham store at 663-5665 or the Alabaster location at 621-2747 or visit HealthyHarveys.com.