102-year-old Mary Morse honored as Lebanon’s oldest resident

LEBANON — Mary Morse sat in a cushioned green armchair surrounded by well-wishers in a community gathering room at Harvest Hill in Lebanon as sunlight poured in through a neighboring sunroom.

“Aren’t you a sweetie?” Morse said as Faye Gillespie, an activities assistant at the assisted living facility, smoothed back her hair.

“I’m just fixing your hair,” Gillespie replied. “You’re the queen today.”

Morse laughed it off, looking at the couple dozen people who had gathered to see members of the Lebanon Historical Society present her with the Boston Post Cane, which goes to the city’s oldest resident.

“We’re just having a nice day,” Morse, 102, said. “The weather is perfect for it.”

The Lebanon Historical Society has awarded the cane to the city’s oldest resident since 1958, when Lebanon’s City Council gave it to the nonprofit organization, according to a description on its website.

The Historical Society awarded the cane to the previous recipient, Alberta Elder, on April 11, 2022, when she was 100. She died in March at 104.

Historical Society member David Muzzy said he finds the city’s oldest resident by calling places where older adults tend to live, including Harvest Hill where Morse resides. The Lebanon Historical Society holds onto the cane and brings it out for ceremonies.

“I’m the oldest person in town?” Morse said as Muzzy presented her with the cane.

“I’m afraid so,” replied Morse’s son, Richard, of Plainfield, who sat beside her.

The group, including Morse’s son, Robert, of Hopkinton, N.H., who also sat next to his mother, chuckled. Muzzy passed the ebony can to Morse and she twirled it around like a baton before placing it across her lap. Muzzy then read from a certificate detailing the Historical Society’s proclamation about Morse’s honor.

“I can’t be the oldest,” she said, interrupting Muzzy for a moment. “I thought I’d be the youngest.”

Then, Muzzy got to the sentence in the certificate that mentioned Morse’s birthday: May 24, 1924.

“I’ve accepted it,” Morse said solemnly about her age, laughter evident in her voice.

Morse was born on a dairy farm in southern New Jersey in 1924. In addition to raising five children, she spent time working as a beautician and physical therapist.

Morse and her late husband, Harry, moved to Lebanon in 2002 to be closer to family. The couple were married for 70 years when Harry died in 2016 at age 94.

After Muzzy finished reading the certificate, Robert Morse said a few words.

“This for our family is a wonderful honor,” he said. Love, he said, has been the “glue and guiding force” in his family’s life.

Afterward, the group had a champagne toast, which also included grapefruit juice. Every night in their later years, Morse and her late husband would have champagne, her daughter-in-law, Betsy Morse, said.

“She and her husband were so in love,” Betsy Morse, of Plainfield, said. “They felt like every day was a celebration.”

The group toasted Morse and cheered.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” Morse said to those who attended the ceremony. “We’re all blessed.”

She said people should “be loved and be happy” and “do what we can, even a smile” to make sure others feel the same.