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At just 102, age won't slow down this five-day volunteer

By ANDREW SKERRITT
Published October 2, 2007

Peggy Mason, 102, looked ready for a date.

She wore pinkish lipstick, white earrings and a floral blouse; her silver-white hair nicely curled. But her reason for being at the Pasco County Elderly Nutrition Program site at Southgate Apartments at 9 a.m. Monday went beyond social.

She had a job to do. The sliced bread and cookies needed to be nicely wrapped and stacked for the lunch bunch.

Five days a week, she gets up early and walks from her apartment to the fellowship hall, where the other seniors meet.

"She never misses a day," said site supervisor Jim Barrett. "We don't have to ask her to do anything; she just does it."

The Toledo, Ohio, native has been actively involved with seniors in Pasco for more than 30 years. She taught crafts at the Elfers Senior Center and served on the council overseeing the school district's senior volunteer program. And she has been a fixture at the Southgate center for years.

After she finished her chores Monday morning, she sat among friends, a pack of cards in her hands. She played a few games with some female partners, but she was merely killing time, waiting for Peter Peterson, her regular card partner.

After the 63-year-old retired Minnesota truck driver arrived, Mason proceeded to win three games in a row.

"I love to beat the heck out of him," she said mischievously. Peterson took it all in stride.

"She's a card shark," he said. "She's pretty sharp."

Mrs. Mason recalled her happy youth in Toledo, where her father was a chiropractor who raised her and her four siblings in a rambling 17-room house.

"We had a lot of doctors and nurses around all the time," she recalled.

She met her first husband, Robert Simonds, at a speakeasy, one of those illegal drinking establishments common during Prohibition.

"It was a lot of fun," she said. "We thought we'd get raided any minute."

Robert enjoyed a successful career as a building contractor in Toledo and they had one daughter, Sheron. Robert died about 40 years ago and Peggy remarried Jack Mason while in her 60s. He died seven years later. She's has been single since but not for a lack of marriage proposals.

"I've had two or three offers," she said.

As people grow older, it's important for them to have companionship and to stay active. Mrs. Mason has benefited from both. She shares her home with Dougie, a 10-year-old white cockatiel. Her daughter, Sheron Davidson, lives in nearby Hudson and, while not giving her age, said she is old enough to collect Social Security.

And there's no shortage of friends and activities. Mrs. Mason and her next door neighbor enjoy a beer after dinner every afternoon.

She cooks for herself and takes no medicine - just vitamins.

On Saturday mornings, she and longtime friend Katherine Gladieux head over to the Holiday Marine Corps League Post 567 for hash browns, eggs, toast and coffee.

Breakfast is on the house for anyone 100 or older.

Andrew Skerritt can be reached at 813 909-4602 or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 4602. His e-mail address is askerritt@sptimes.com.

[Last modified October 1, 2007, 21:42:03]