Greenwich Post

Printed From Acorn-Online.com
Greenwich Post
Four women celebrate 100 years
Mar 15, 2007

On Jan. 19, 1903, scientists revolutionized communications by conducting the first successful transatlantic radio broadcast between the United States and England.
Later that year, the Wright Brothers went airborne in Kitty Hawk, N.C., priming the skies for air travel as we now know it.
While it may seem as if these momentous events happened eons ago, in a world no longer connected to our own, 104-year-old Greenwich resident Myrtle “Mother” Tate was alive for both.
In the case of the Wrights taking flight, she was even in the same state.
“There’s been a lot of changes, but you’ve got to go along with them,” said Ms. Tate, who was born in North Carolina on Jan. 15, 1903.
Ms. Tate was one of four “centenarians” — a name given to people who’ve hit the century mark — honored with a special ceremony last week at Connecticut Health of Greenwich.
Mary Florio, 103, Bertha Miert, 102, and Mildred O’Brien, 99 and closing in on 100, were the nursing home’s other three guests of honor.
The party included music, courtesy of the Sacred Heart School’s bell choir and madrigal singers, and blessings from the Revs. Heather Parkinson-Webb and Desmond Hamilton, both of Greenwich Chaplaincy Services.
In addition, Selectwoman Penny Monahan read a proclamation honoring the four women, and Ms. Tate received 104 red roses, compliments of Colony Florist.
“If there’s any example, it’s here today,” Mr. Hamilton told the women. “Your life represents a light.”
Ms. Parkinson-Webb echoed the sentiment, sharing stories of how, all around the world, centenarians are growing in number and remaining active in their communities.
“Retiring, for any of you, at 65 would only have been halfway for the journey you’re on,” she said.‘Mother’ Tate
For Ms. Tate, a local resident for more than 70 years, the party was especially sweet, as all three of her grandchildren, who live in North Carolina, made the trip to Greenwich.
“It’s a great honor,” said grandson Sammy Tate. “I’m proud to be here for her.”
Mr. Tate said longevity runs in the family, as Ms. Tate’s sister lived to be 105. So what’s the secret?
“I’m not sure, but I wish we all knew,” Mr. Tate said. “She’s got some genes there that keep her going.”
Granddaughter Dianne Tate Watson said clean living might have something to do with it.
“Ever since I was a little girl, there were certain things she did,” Ms. Watson said. “She never drank anything but ginger ale.”
Even Ms. Tate isn’t exactly sure what’s kept her vibrant all these years.
“Well, you know, I stayed out of trouble,” she told the Post earlier this week. “And I worked hard.”
For years, she worked as a housekeeper for the Fitzsimmons family — a job that gave her an opportunity to travel across the country. As much as she’s enjoyed places like Maine and Boston, though, she said Greenwich remains her favorite place.
“It’s a little place, and it’s clean,” she said. “If you keep your nose clean, you’ll do good.”
She said she was among the first tenants of the Agnes Morley housing development, and she can still remember her neighbor’s German shepherd, who would sit next to her on park benches, just like a human.
“I just let him sit there, and I’d talk to him,” she remembers. “I guess he said, ‘She talks to me like a person, so I’m going to act like one.’”
Looking back, she chuckles about all the world events she’s lived for.
“I’ve seen them come, I’ve seen them go,” she said.
Surpassing 65
Ms. Miert has been in Greenwich even longer than Ms. Tate. According to her nephew, Dan Miert, she moved to town from Czechoslovakia when she was 8 years old, possibly with an aunt.
Mr. Miert said there’s little family precedent for his aunt’s old age, as his father — her brother — died at 62.
Though Ms. Miert never married, she was always a “family-oriented” person, Mr. Miert said.
“She was always a giver, no matter what it was, giving little gifts,” he said, recalling that she gave him his first bicycle.
She was also fond of ice skating, teaching Mr. Miert and two of his neighbors how to stay on their feet.
Mr. Miert said his aunt, like Ms. Tate, has taken good care of herself all her life.
“[She] never smoked, never drank,” he said. “I think that did add to her longevity — I really do.”
Another factor, he said, was her ability to unwind.
“She did know how, when it came time, to relax, which a lot of us don’t,” he said.
When asked if any specific memories of his aunt stand out, Mr. Miert recalled a surprise birthday party he threw her when she turned 65.
“She said, ‘That’ll probably be my last one,’” he said. “That was 36 years ago.”
‘No complaints’
In her 102 years, Ms. Florio has never seen a party like the one Connecticut Health of Greenwich threw last week.
“The big cake and flowers and people who sang — it was beautiful,” she said.
Ms. Florio said she’s the last of her parents’ 10 children — a feat she chalks up, at least in part, to hard work, as she spent 31 years as a dressmaker in Port Chester, N.Y.
Before that, she grew up on Mulberry Street in lower Manhattan, and she said she can still remember workers building the Spring Street subway line.
These days, though she’s not too happy about being confined to a wheelchair, she said life at the nursing home is good.
“All the nurses are very nice,” she said. “They help me. I have no complaints.”
‘You just keep going’
Ms. O’Brien was born in Glenville, and she lived in town until 1930, when she moved to Stamford.
While there, she worked as a seamstress for more than 40 years, including stints with Christian Dior.
“She took care of herself, and she did for others,” said niece Susan Saline. “She really did help a lot of people out. She was very giving.”
At one point, Ms. Saline said, Ms. O’Brien — or “aunt Mimi,” as she is known — took in her mother-in-law and cared for her for more than 40 years. She was also an active member of St. John’s Roman Catholic Church in Stamford.
Come the holidays, Ms. Saline said, the whole family would look forward to her aunt’s peanut-butter cookies.
“She was always her nieces’ and nephews’ favorite aunt,” she said. “She was very special to us.”
When asked to speculate on what’s allowed her aunt to live such a long life, Ms. Saline said it’s a mystery.
“I think you just keep going,” she said.
Ms. O’Brien put it another way.
“God doesn’t want me, and the devil doesn’t want me, so I stay here,” she recently told her niece.