Centenarian: Mary A. Ward

MARY A. WARD (née Conlan), born Nov. 26, 1909, in Ballybay, County Monaghan, Ireland, is the oldest of eight children. In 1927, at 18, she came to the United States and worked at the New York Telephone Co. as an information operator. She married James P. Ward Sr. in 1933 and was widowed in 1977. The mother of four sons, she has 11 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren. Neighbors surprised her with a pre-birthday party at Eastover Gardens Senior Citizen Housing Complex in Wantagh, where she resides. On Nov. 28 friends and relatives again celebrated at Villa Carmela Italian Bistro in Levittown. Legally blind, she enjoys listening to the news and Irish music.

Compiled by Darlene Gein