New Jersey Native Celebrates 100th Birthday

It was time for Mary Dolmonet to leave her hometown in New Jersey and relocate to sunny Florida.

"I wanted to be in the weather they spoke so much of," she said.

Dolmonet was 97 at the time.

On Saturday, she celebrated her 100th birthday along with friends and family at Forest Oaks Care Center.

The birthday lady smiled throughout the party. When the crowd of more than 100 people sang "Happy Birthday" to her, she joined them.

Her hearing, memory and sense of humor have remained sharp.

When asked where she was born, she named the city (Elizabeth, N.J.) and hospital (St. Mary's).

When her daughter heard that, she was surprised.

"Really? She said that?" Mary Lou Belshaw asked. "Her memory's even better than I thought."

Belshaw and her husband decided in 2005 they would move to Spring Hill. She was not about to leave her mother behind.

She recalled saying, "Mom, I can't leave you alone. You're moving with us to Florida."

After 97 years in New Jersey, Dolmonet was fine with the decision.

She fell down a couple times while alone at her daughter's house. Pretty soon the decision was made to move to Forest Oaks. It was Dolmonet's choice.

She stayed at the center whenever her daughter and son-in-law left town. She felt comfortable there. She preferred the atmosphere and the care.

"She's very independent," Belshaw said when asked to describe her mother in one sentence.

Dolmonet's husband died 40 years ago. Her children had grown. She grew accustomed to caring for herself.

When she moved to the living facility, she requested no roommates, Belshaw said.

Her independent streak does not mean she has difficulty making friends, said Forest Oaks staffer Kim Foster.

"The residents are very close," she said. "They sit together. They party together."

One of Dolmonet's coffee companions gave a speech during the party. Another friend, a man who lost his hearing when he was 12 years old, practiced for weeks on a song. He sang it to Dolmonet on her birthday.

The daughter of Austrian parents called herself "a nice, friendly old lady," as she sipped on a glass of champagne.

Her secret for a long life?

"Living in happiness," she said.