April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
CASTLETON CENTENARIAN
At 102, 'I can't believe I'm that old!'
Mrs. Eckert, a parishioner of Sacred Heart Church in Castleton, was born in Montgomery County on June 25, 1913. Her parents, both immigrants from the Parma region of northern Italy, came to the United States in the early 1900s.
Her father's last name was Guatteri, but it was changed to Guattery after a misprint on the immigration papers. "They made a mistake and [my father] said he wouldn't make them change it," said Mrs. Eckert. "My father had a general store in Middletown," she told The Evangelist. "I used to go house to house and fill grocery orders. Then my father would deliver them.
"They were real Americans," she said of her parents. "We children were brought up that way."
Mrs. Eckert is the second of seven children. She had five brothers, as well as a sister who died very young. Four of her brothers served in World War II; one was killed in a helicopter crash in Germany. Her youngest brother is still alive.
In the beginning
Although she claims she "can't remember too much," Mrs. Eckert recounted a few significant moments from her childhood.
"When we were very young, our father took us to see the first airplane to ever come to the area," she said. She also can't forget walking "a mile to the high school." Crossing train tracks, "we went home for lunch and had to hope the freight train wouldn't interfere with our lunch."
Mrs. Eckert graduated from Middletown High School and, later, the State University of Teaching, where she earned a degree in biology and chemistry.
"A week after I graduated, I started working with the New York State Health Department. I started as a lab technician" and was later promoted to senior bacteriologist.
Lab work
At a time when many women weren't working outside the home, she did research on pneumonia and diphtheria -- the latter, a deadly disease that's estimated to have killed a million people a year until widespread vaccination mostly eradicated it.
The lab "was quite a nice place to work," said Mrs. Eckert. In fact, the job ended quite nicely for her: "That's where I met my husband, Bill."
The couple married in 1951, moving to the Castleton home where Mrs. Eckert still lives today. She gestured at the neighborhood outside her living-room window: "None of these houses were here then. I liked it here. In fact, I didn't like going back to Albany."
Mr. Eckert, who was a biochemist for Sterling Drugs, requested that his wife leave her laboratory job after their marriage. Their first daughter, Elizabeth, was born in 1952; daughter Jeanne came along four years later.
"We raised chickens and had a large vegetable garden," Mrs. Eckert said. "My husband taught me to can." Mr. Eckert, who passed away in 1997, kept up a greenhouse that Mrs. Eckert now preserves. She takes care of about 200 plants: "I have dabbled in a few things. I've hooked rugs; I knit and crochet. I caned a few chairs. I belong to a group that makes shawls for shut-ins.
Busy lady
"I often wish I had more time to partake in volunteer work," mused the 102-year-old, who keeps busy with housecleaning and cooking: "My friends keep me loaded with vegetables and take me to the grocery store and doctors. I have wonderful family, neighbors and friends -- many friends."
In 2006, when she suffered from a burst appendix, friends and family "got me moving! They installed railings all over the place."
At their insistence, Mrs. Eckert has a medical alert system with her at all times, though she claims her family doesn't "worry because they know someone would call them if something happened.
"My health is good, but my balance is not," the centenarian admitted. "I drove until about a month before my 100th birthday. I miss driving now."
Mrs. Eckert's last few birthdays have been full of surprises. From a surprise party thrown by family and friends to unexpected visits from her beloved doctor, her 100th birthday celebration lasted nearly a week and a half.
Her most recent birthday was filled with loved ones, as well. "Nearby friends stopped in and greeted me; I got about 50 cards, I think -- many, from church members."
Change is good
A century-plus of life has brought more than a few changes in the world, but Mrs. Eckert's experience is that "they're so gradual, you just go with it.
"We didn't have television when I was young," she said. Though she owns a TV now, she only watches travel and cooking programs: "I'm not interested in ballgames.
"The electronics have changed considerably," she continued. "It's fine in many ways, but I think some things are lost. If a computer dies, the people left behind are lost."
As for her age, Mrs. Eckert has "no complaints. I feel good. I can't believe I'm that old!"[[In-content Ad]]
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