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105! Local woman 'amazed' at longevity
Laughter does a life good. At least it has for Mary Baker.
At 105, she claims the key to her longevity is hard work. Guests at her recent birthday party might attribute it to the laughter that sprinkles her conversation.
She is surrounded by family--including her son William, 69, from Ohio--who came to celebrate her birthday party at Greenfield, an assisted living facility in Berryville.
And Mary is all smiles. She never thought she'd live this long.
“I'm amazed,” she said.
It's Wednesday, May 14, a day Mary has been celebrating since 1903, and there doesn't seem to be an end in sight.
Mary is a treasure trove of memories that most would consider information only found in history books. She still remembers growing up in small town Ranson, W.Va., where at age 12 she was first employed as an usher selling movie tickets at the Opera House in Charles Town, W.Va.
“I had to stand on a box to punch out tickets and change,” she said.
She met her husband, Roy, at that theater where he played violin and piano to accompany silent movies.
Then and now, Mary's favorite part of working at the theater was the socializing.
“Meeting the people and having conversations” while on the job monopolized her time, as she was not interested in viewing the movies.
It's this hard work ethic that she attributes to her long life.
Later in life Mary served as the postmaster general at the Ranson Post Office, and along with her husband owned and operated the Sanitary Cash grocery store.
Later she was appointed to serve Ranson as the city bookkeeper, recorder and treasurer. She walked to and from her post every day for 60 years until she retired at age 99.
In 2001, Ranson Mayor Dave Hammill proclaimed Ranson Community Service Appreciation Day as an annual event during May in honor of Mary, who received the inaugural Ranson Excellence Award for her exemplary service to the community.
What advice does she give to younger citizens? Study and work hard.
She remembers her life as a small business owner during the Great Depression as one lined with debt from patrons unable to pay.
“They would run up their bills,” she said. “Roy would stop the [tab] and pay a little on back bills.”
Mary claims she never had much free time, but when she did she would work on crochet or embroidery projects.
Her brother tried to teach her to drive in 1927 until, she said, he got annoyed with her techniques.
“I got to the railroad tracks and I'd blow my horn,” she explained. “He said he wouldn't help me anymore.”
Her son, Bill Baker, didn't claim to have an answer to her longevity either. He joked that there may have been something in the Ransom water, but added that she has always lived “a clean life,” never smoking or drinking alcohol.
“God has something more for her to do in her life,” Bill said of his mother's many years.
Over a century of living can't be attributed to a special diet either. While she didn't claim to have a favorite food, she does enjoy roast chicken and macaroni and cheese.
Having trouble blowing out the candles on her 105th birthday cake, Mary kept her humor. “I don't have any wind left in me,” she laughed.
She doesn't have any advice on how to extend a lifetime: everyone has to figure it out for themselves.
“If you live to be my age...by that time you'll know what to do.”
Contact the reporter at hhager@timespapers.com.
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