Mid Rivers Newsmagazine 6-21-17

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Living history: St. Peters resident Mary Craden turns 100
June 21, 2017
MID RIVERS NEWSMAGAZINE
I 19
By DEANNE LEBLANC
When you turn 100, one party just isn’t
enough.
St. Peters resident Mary Craden turned
100 on June 5 and, that evening, over 100
family and friends honored her with a
gala celebration. The following afternoon,
more partying was underway at the Aspen
Trails Senior Living Community. At that
event, St. Peter’s Mayor Len Pagano made
an appearance.
Pagano presented Craden with a framed
personal letter and even sang “Happy
Birthday” with the rest of the party-goers.
In the letter, which he read aloud, he
reminded Craden that she lived during the
most eventful century of the world’s history.
Craden interrupted the mayor and
jokingly said, “I know. I’ve lived it. I was
Rosie the Riveter!”
Rosie the Riveter, a fictional character,
was featured in an ad that became the most
iconic image of working women during
World War II. Craden couldn’t contain her
patriotic pride as she explained her important
job to the mayor.
“I was a bullet inspector and the boys
overseas all got good bullets. There were
no mistakes made by me!” she exclaimed.
pening
er with
Craden’s diligent work ethic and strength
of character resonated with Pagano, who
acknowledged that Craden also worked
for the Francis Howell School District as a
cafeteria worker until she was 95 years old.
“There were many great things done
over the last 100 years and you are a part
of that,” Pagano said in his congratulatory
remarks. “You are history.”
Laughter followed his last comment, but
there is truth in it. Craden has lived through
the end of World War I, World War II, the
Korean War, the Cold War, the Vietnam
War and 9/11. She heard Martin Luther
King speak, saw President John F. Kennedy
assassinated and witnessed President
Richard Nixon resign. Craden made sure
to let everyone know that she remembers
it well.
“I have lived through many wars and the
Great Depression. I remember when hamburger
meat was 25 cents a pound,” Craden
said. Her family said she has many interesting
stories to tell.
Craden was born in St. Louis but moved
to New York when she was 3. When she
was 10, her family moved back to the St.
Louis area and she has been here ever since.
She was married twice, the second time at
age 80 after her first husband passed away.
She has 10 children [7 stepchildren], 25
grandchildren, 35 great-grandchildren and
12 great-great-grandchildren. Her family
agrees that she loved all her children like
they were her very own.
Stepdaughter Pat Brown said, “It seems
like she’s been in our life forever. We just
love her. She’s our mom and she has always
treated us that way. It doesn’t matter if you
are a ‘stepkid’ or not.”
Craden’s cousin, Paul, who recently
turned 90, shared, “She’s still smart as a
tack, isn’t she?” He couldn’t stop talking
about Craden’s big heart and how well she
loves others. “She’s always been there for
me, for everyone in this family. I love her
very much,” he said with tears in his eyes.
Craden said her love of life keeps her
spirit young. Her favorite hobby is dancing
and she loves Tony Bennett, but she
confesses that she doesn’t like to listen
to current popular music. “Today, when I
watch ‘The Voice,’ the contestants sound
like they are howling, not singing!” Craden
said. She also explained that she is not too
excited about the technological advances
that have been made in the last decade. “I
have a smartphone but I can’t seem to learn
to handle it. I hate it! It fuzzes up my brain.”
She said the secret to a long life must
Mary Craden with Mayor Len Pagano
have to do with genetics because, “I don’t
do anything the experts say to do. I only eat
junk food, I don’t drink water and I never
exercise! I don’t feel like I’m 100, I feel
like I’m around 70.”
Although she has had two heart attacks
and two cancer operations, she said it
doesn’t bother her at all.
“I feel great! I pushed for 100, so I’m
not too sure what I should push for now,
maybe 105,” Craden said with a laugh.
Craden said what she has learned from
history is to “be yourself and always do
what’s right.”
As for the next generation, she shared,
“Always be honest and do everything that
you’re told to do by your parents.”
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