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100-year birthdays

By Times Staff Writer
Published July 20, 2005

Barbara Charbonneaux Chalk Dewey was born July 22, 1905, in Springfield, Mass., to Alfred J. and Lucy (Meader) Charbonneaux.

Barbara graduated from Central High School in Springfield in 1923 and Bay Path Institute (a secretarial school, now Bay Path College) in 1925. After moving to St. Louis, she married Thomas Chalk. Together they had one daughter, Nina, who was born in 1931; she died in 1980.

Barbara worked for Gilbert and Barker in Springfield (now Gilbarco, a division of Exxon, North Carolina), then a manufacturer of measuring and visible pumps, for 22 years. She started in the steno pool and advanced to secretary to the president, a position she held for a number of years.

In 1955, she married William F. Dewey and retired from Gilbert and Barker. William came to the marriage with three children: Elizabeth D. Giles, Shrewsbury, Mass.; Robert G., Melbourne; and William F. Jr., who died in 2002. The Deweys lived in Longmeadow, Mass., before moving to Seminole in 1983. William died in 1991.

Barbara spent a lot of time during her life, according to daughter Elizabeth, doing "fine needlepoint work" and gardening. She is a member of Pilgrim Congregational Church, St. Petersburg, and has nine grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.

Alexandra Cook Draper was born July 25, 1902, in Niagara Falls, N.Y., to Edward and Carmenta (Burnison) Cook and will soon celebrate her 103rd birthday with many friends, family and local officials.

She graduated from the nursing program at St. Luke's Hospital in New York. Shortly after her graduation, she was sent to Ohio to serve in the fight against a typhoid epidemic. She then returned to Niagara Falls and met and married Edward Draper in 1940.

She continued to work at DeGraff Memorial Hospital in Niagara Falls. In October 1941, Alexandra gave birth to daughter Carrie Draper (now Meister). Baby Carrie, taken daily to the hospital while her mother worked, became the darling of all the nurses and hospital staff. Babies were something of a novelty in the early 1940s; so many men had gone off to war.

After separating from Edward in 1951, Alexandra and Carrie moved to St. Petersburg. Alexandra's mother, a retired doctor, had a home on Round Lake, so Alexandra was familiar with the area. She was hired by the state of Florida to go to Collier County to open a clinic to serve the men who were logging cypress trees and their families. While there, she introduced what we would now call well-baby clinics and also covered more adult health topics such as parasites, tuberculosis and venereal disease. By 1954, Alexandra was working at Mirror Lake Health Department and Tyrone Middle School, again conducting well-baby clinics.

After her retirement, she did a world of traveling, omitting only Russia and China as destinations. She even went to both the North and South Poles. Her daughter reports that she traveled about 11 months out of the year for many years. One trip to the Himalaya Mountains had Alexandra traveling on yaks with several European men who seemingly spoke no English. Not possessing language skills enough to communicate easily, Alexandra worked very hard - for five or six months - to communicate with her fellow travelers. Only near the end of the trip did she discover that they did indeed speak English and had been enjoying her difficulty.

Alexandra has been a member of the League of Women Voters, the Friends of Gulfport Library, Pasadena Garden Club, Gulfport Elementary student reading program, Central Christian Church and, from age 90 to 95, the SHARE food program.

She has four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

We think that living 100 years is worth our taking notice. If you or a family member is about to celebrate a 100th birthday or more, please let us know. Include the following information: the person's full name, date of birth, place of birth, parents' names (including mother's maiden name) if known, name of spouse (if applicable), marriage date, names of children and number of grandchildren (if applicable), length of time the person has lived in this area and a phone number in case we have questions. Also, please include a photo that doesn't need to be returned. We'll publish the information as close to the birthday as possible. Send the information to 100-year Birthdays, St. Petersburg Times, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731-1121 or fax to (727) 893-8675.

[Last modified July 20, 2005, 00:57:15]