North Pinellas Good For You for Oct. 6

Surrounded by family, friends and fellow church members from St. Mark Lutheran Church, Dunedin's Mary Martha Paterson celebrated her 100th birthday with a party Sept. 28 at Mease Manor, where guests were treated to live music and a buffet of food and wine.

She was born Sept. 28, 1913, in Youngstown, Ohio, and grew up in Miller, Ind., where her father, William Denny "Doc" Carroll, worked to provide electric power to cities and railroads in America's northeastern states and her mother, Emma (North) Carroll, was the town's first postmistress. Twin brothers Tom and John completed the family.

Her wedding to John Cooper Paterson took place on Aug. 1, 1936, in Miller.

She invested her time in social, community, church and family events and enjoyed traveling. Hobbies included playing bridge, cooking, sewing and knitting.

The Patersons moved to Dunedin in 1966 from Toronto after John, a Sears executive, retired.

After settling in, she joined the Dunedin Golf Club, Marathon Bridge Club, Newcomers Club, Encore Club and the CYC Gulls (the Women's Auxiliary of the Clearwater Yacht Club of which her husband served as Commodore from 1973-74).

Traveling with the Clearwater Yacht Club to other Florida clubs was fun for the couple. In addition to attending lots of dinners and parties, she familiarized herself with boating lingo, passed navigation courses and could recognize the burgees, or distinguishing flags, of recreational boating organizations.

Personal travel included cruises and visits to family and friends in the United States and Canada. She also made an overseas trip with a church group from St. Mark, where she has been a member since 1966.

The centenarian has a son, Donald Paterson, and a daughter, Sheila Peters.

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