Exercise helps Dover woman reach 100th birthday

Posted: August 22, 2007

Monday, August 20, 2007

Exercise helps Dover woman reach 100th birthday

By MALLORY SCHAFER

Democrat Staff Writer

mschafer@fosters.com

Copywrite with permission: Foster's Daily Democrat

Beth Lorden/Democrat photo Grace Noel celebrates her 100th birthday with friends and family at her son's house in Dover Saturday afternoon.

DOVER — For Grace Noel, who celebrated 100 years of life on a beautiful Saturday afternoon, the secret to longevity is just good ol' fashioned exercise.

Right up to the age of 94, Grace took brisk walks and held true to a regimen of sit-ups.

"She is in such good shape they (doctors) were able to do a valve replacement and triple bypass at age 90," her son, Harvey, said.

Although her amount of physical fitness has toned down recently, Grace was full of vim and vigor Saturday as she blew out the candles, which did not number 100 by any means, of her birthday cake adorned with white frosting and pink trimming.

Her friends and family, who surrounded her throughout the joyous event held at Harvey's home on Long Hill Road, ensured Grace remained the center of attention. She donned a sparkling silver tiara and a purple corsage and ribbon pinned to her beige cardigan sweater.

Pictures covered a bulletin board in the home's front foyer, recounting her century of life, which began in Everett, Mass. on Aug. 17, 1907, and had stops in Milton, Dover, and more recently, Clearwater, Fla.

She was born before World War I and during the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt, sought work as a young woman during the Great Depression, toiled as a drill press operator at the Navy Yard in Portsmouth during World War II and worked in the mills during heydays of the shoe shops in Dover.

Oklahoma became the 46th state one month after her birth and taxi cabs were being used in London for the first time shortly afterward. Grace has graced the world for some time.

She spent a portion of her retirement years in Clearwater, Fla., returning to the area shortly after her husband died in 1996. She currently lives in the Wentworth Home.

In May, Noel was able to pet a donkey as part of a program at the Wentworth Home. The Ageless Dreamer Foundation made it possible for her and several other senior citizens from the Wentworth Home in Dover to travel to the Grand Finale Farm in Barrington to pet the donkeys. Foundation Executive Director Beth Fischer said her organization is like Make-A-Wish Foundation for those 70 and older and it recently set a goal of granting two wishes a week to senior citizens.

Harvey and his wife, Carol, hosted the party and several generations of family attended the gathering. Many of her 12 great-grandchildren paid a visit. Grace is also anxiously awaiting the arrival of a great-great-grandson in October.

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