Birthday: Mary Tracey celebrates 100th birthday

Photo: Laura Wild

Mary Tracey celebrated her 100th birthday today (Sunday 31 January 2010), she is pictured here with her card from the Queen

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Mary Tracey celebrated her 100th birthday alongside family and friends today (Sunday 31 January) at Braeside Care Home in Smallbridge.

Relatives travelled from across the country to celebrate the birthday of a woman, who they described as ‘fantastic.’

Mrs Tracey decided that there was nothing she needed or wanted for her 100th birthday so she asked her family and friends to give money to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) and the NSPCC.

Born and brought up in Rochdale, the eldest of three children, Mrs Tracey has a younger sister Annie who lives in a care home in Kent and a younger brother Jack who has passed away.

Mrs Tracey attended Penn Street Infant School in Rochdale as a child, before moving with her family to Leicester because of her father’s job. She continued her education in Leicester before starting work at 14 years old at Samuel Heap and Sons, where her father worked.

In her early twenties Mrs Tracey spent over 12 months in a sanatorium being treated for tubercolosis, which at the time was rife and potentially fatal.

In 1930 Mrs Tracey met and married her first husband Archibald before having her son Frank in 1943. Archibald died in 1958 leaving Mary a widow with a young son still at school. Mrs Tracey then moved to Sheerness to be closer to her parents and brother Jack.

 In 1970, Mrs Tracey, her mother Pricalla, son Frank, daughter-in-law Hazel and granddaughter Jennifer, moved to Devon to run a small guest house. The family ran the guest house for two seasons and then decided to move back to Rochdale.

Mrs Tracey did marry later in life but the marriage only lasted a short time with her husband sadly passing away. 

Frank Harrison, Mrs Tracey’s son, said: “Mum's life has not been easy coming through the great depression, two world wars and being left a widow with a 14-year-old son in the days before adequate benefits. Although her life has been hard we have rarely heard her complain.”

Mr Harrison told how his mum has always been well known for her beautiful needlework and dressmaking skills. He also said that Mrs Tracey has memories of a World War One tank being brought to school and the children were asked for money to support the war effort.

For many years, following the death of her mother and husband, Mrs Tracey lived on her own in Littleborough. She then found it more convenient to move into a care home and two years ago, at the age of 98, following several falls and a spell in hospital, became a resident of Braeside Care Home, where she is now the eldest resident.

Careworker, Christine Jones, described Mrs Tracey as ‘very comical’ she said: “Mary is often telling tales of her history and the changes she has witnessed through her life. She is a very lovely lady.”