COURT HOUSE – The family of one of Cape May County’s newest centenarians suggests her liking of chicken may have aided her in earning the title.
Catherine Creaden, a Court House Centerresident, celebrated her 100th birthday June 29. She was wheeled down to the facility’s party room on the first floor shortly after 2 p.m. to applause from her family members. Looking around at the decorations in the room, Creaden took turns receiving hugs from her children and grandchildren before being wheeled to her two-layered, vanilla icing-covered birthday cake in front of several balloons and floral arrangements.
Creaden’sfamily originates from Ireland, with both of her grandparents immigrating to the U.S. Her parents added 13 children to their family tree.
“I had a very hard life,” she told her family members after being asked about her life story with a marker board due to hearing loss,”but I took good care of myself.”
Creaden’s journey to being a great-grandmother to 13 children began when she met her late husband, John, in Fishtown, a Philadelphia neighborhoodnext to Olde Kensington and Olde Richmond. The two met when Creaden was 16 whilefrequently passing each other in the area, and later marrying when John was 26 and Catherine was 23. Her family said she enjoyed a lifestyle abstaining from drinking or smoking, which they said may have also helped her in reaching her 100th birthday.
During World War II, Creaden’s husband was stationed miles away in Puerto Rico, as a machinist mate in the U.S. Navy. Legend has it he was shot at while flying near U.S. territory by a Nazi submarine.
The couple eventually explored life outside Philadelphia, opting to relocate across the Delaware River to Woodbury, where they raised their four children. They enjoyed living in the area until John’s death, in 1988, at 77. Creaden eventually relocated to Court House with her daughter, Carol Borawski, and Borawski’s husband, Dan, leading to her residency at the care facility.
Kate Ransom, one of Creaden’s grandchildren, believes her grandmother was a stay-at-home mother while her husband continued working as a mechanist.
Before the pandemic forced her to shelter in place, Ransom said Creaden enjoyed joining others for bingo and receiving visits from her family.
During her birthday party, Creaden said she has countless enjoyable memories from her life, her fondest being her wedding day, when her and her husbandwere married at St. Michael’s Church, in Philadelphia.
To contact Eric Conklin, email econklin@cmcherald.com.
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