Photograph by Louise Webb
Mary Beselin, 97, stands in front of a painting by her cousin.
Audrey McInerney retired Dec. 31, after being the activities and social director at Fellowship Plaza for 14 years. She plans to travel with her husband, John.
The Fellowship Plaza is a retirement housing place for seniors on Fruitvale Avenue, down the hill from the Odd Fellows Home. Resident Bernice Majewski says you go to Audrey for tears or for laughter. Mary Beselin, 97, came to the home shortly before Audrey did and says it won't be the same without her.
Beselin tells me if anyone's lonely at the Fellowship Plaza, it's their own fault. There are educational lectures, games, short trips and a Friday afternoon social where even men sometimes come, she says.
Beselin keeps busy, and it was difficult finding her home for an interview. When she was in, she had more than 150 Christmas cards to finish, and she wrote a note on each one.
She has many friends, including Betty Blanchard, who says Beselin is a remarkable, gracious host who loves people and still cooks and travels.
Beselin, a retired teacher, is the oldest of seven girls and helped rear her sisters. Back then, people didn't think anything of walking 312 miles to school, and it was safe, she says. Teaching gave her the greatest pleasure, even as a youngster. Beselin recalls her mother sighing as she dragged boxes in the kitchen time and time again to use as chairs to play school. The fifth grade was Beselin's favorite grade. She taught more than 22 years. One of her biggest thrills was reuniting last summer with a pupil in Washington she had taught 73 years ago.
Beselin's memories are phenomenal. When her family was moving from Michigan to Washington when she was 5, she recalled, an auctioneer came in and sold the family surrey with the fringe for $2.50. When they moved, they took a five-day train ride from Michigan to Anacortes, Washington. Her mother took along a large cheese box to store cheese sandwiches for the trip.
Mary met her husband, Ed Beselin, later in Everett when he rented the garage in the back of their home. She remembers the Depression as being terrible, but they were able to get by thanks to her husband and his friends, who caught fish from the sea. In the l930s she could buy a good roast for 25 cents a pound.
Her husband died two years ago at the age of 102. He was a marine engineer and wrote a small book about his sailing days. The idea to write down his experiences came when daughter Marylin Nestler gave him a book of blank pages 15 years ago on his 87th birthday.
The Beselins had 68 wonderful married years and had three children, including Marylin, who is a public nurse and lives in Saratoga. Beselin's two boys live in Washington. Three grandchildren were raised in Saratoga: Shana, Matthew and Lynn Duisenberg. Shana teaches Spanish at St. Andrew's School. Beselin's most exciting day this year was watching Shana teach at St. Andrew's on Grandparents' Day. She has eight great-grandchildren.
Beselin has written her own memoirs to pass on to her family and has even saved her kindergarten report card. Her philosophy is to be happy. She believes it helps keep you healthy. Beselin's friend Jean Barrick says she is an inspiration because of her strong, positive attitude.
This article appeared in the Saratoga News, January 15, 1997.
©1997 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.