With landmark age comes a party

Born in 1900, Marion Irving doesn't have much to say about her longevity. But the people around her wanted to make a fuss.

By CHANDRA BROADWATER
Published July 10, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT [Times photo: Maurice Rivenbark] Marion Irving will celebrate her 107th birthday on Tuesday. Though she doesn't much like the attention, there will be a small birthday party at Atria Evergreen Woods, where she has lived since 1988. Watch video

SPRING HILL - Marion Irving doesn't know why or how she's lived so long. 

And after spending 107 years on this earth, she's kind of over talking about it. 

"I don't understand why everyone's making such a big fuss," Mrs. Irving said one day last week, leaning forward in her wheelchair. "All I said I wanted was a cake and to sing 'Happy Birthday.' I get tired easily. Don't you think so at my age?"

A few weeks back, the staff at Atria Evergreen Woods assisted living facility started posting fliers advertising the birthday coming up. Mrs. Irving has lived there since 1984. They ordered the cake, booked a magician and alerted the media. They even bought her a new light pink her favorite color dress.

Today, whether she likes it or not, she will get a party.

As she speaks, Mrs. Irving rolls her chair back and forth with her slippered feet. Her small hands rest in her lap.

Though she can walk, she prefers to move herself around in the chair. Last year, she fell and broke her hip.

Most of the time, Mrs. Irving likes to stay in her room at the end of "Beech Boulevard" in Pine Lodge, reading the Bible with her magnifying glass. Ever since she arrived, she's been in the same cozy room, 26.

She had the option to move a few years ago when her building turned into a residence for Alzheimer's patients. But she didn't like the idea of leaving.

Neatly arranged, her room contains a few mementos, knickknacks and a quilt on the twin bed. There is a black-and-white picture of her mother, next to a vase with a pink fake rose. She died in 1948, at the age of 93. Her father died in 1908 in his 50s.

Just past the TV is her collection of neatly arranged stuffed animals. Next to the pink and purple fluff is a picture of Al, her husband of 41 years. He died in 1968.

They met in Plattsburg, N.Y., where Marion was born in 1900. Both she and Al worked for the Northern New York Phone Co., and dreamed of retirement in Florida. They moved to St. Petersburg in 1962.

Al and Marion never had any children. And of her sister and two brothers, Marion is the only one still living. The same goes with all her other relatives.

She ended up in Hernando County after a close friend, Joy Shadduck, found Evergreen Woods. Shadduck lives in Spring Hill.

"After (Al) died, I thought 'I'll hang in there for a few years,' " Mrs. Irving said. "I guess I've hung on for a good many."

On the morning Mrs. Irving met with a reporter to talk about her upcoming birthday, she had just had a bath, and her short silver hair was combed neatly to the side. She smelled powdery fresh.

Plans for the day were just about like all others: a nap, then lunch, which might be followed by another nap, some reading and then dinner.

Her last snack before bedtime would also fit in with a routine. Folks at Evergreen Woods can't recall the last time she didn't have her Jell-O with ranch dressing on top.

So is that the secret to living so long?

If you ask her -- a few times since she's hard of hearing -- Mrs. Irving might shoot you a look and take in a deep breath. That doesn't mean she's not thankful.

"The Lord, he ...," she says, pausing. "I should say the Holy Spirit, because you can't say 'he.' The Holy Spirit has certainly been very good to me. I'm very grateful for every minute I've had."

Chandra Broadwater can be reached at cbroadwater@sptimes.com or (352) 848-1432.

[Last modified July 9, 2007, 20:46:47]