Rita Mulroy sat beaming, the center of attention, at her birthday party on Oct. 9.
The official centenarian had turned 100-years-old three days earlier and was being feted in style by staff, residents, family, and friends at Taber Mills apartments where she lives in New Bedford.
Mulroy seemed a little surprised by all the attention, but happy to go with the flow and even play up to her audience’s expectations, waving to friends and throwing her arms up enthusiastically as the 50 or so people in the community room completed singing the final notes of Happy Birthday.
She accepted a wrist corsage and tiara with grace and only hesitated when asked to take a spoonful of the elaborate, oversized, and not yet cut, birthday cake.
But she did that with a smile too.
His mother has always been a friendly, independent person, said her son, Rick Mulroy, who, even at age 100, lives alone, dressing herself, and preparing her own meals.
“She’s amazing,” he said. “I just enjoy her company.”
“The only problem she has is her hearing,” he continued, adding that she takes only two medications, walks every day, and loves word searches, playing solitaire, and putting puzzles together.
“I put the borders up and then we make them together,” Rick Mulroy said about the puzzles. “I’ll come back two days later and they’re all done.”
Mulroy has always been independent and taken care of herself, agreed her daughter, Peggy Barry. Her husband died when Mulroy was 50, she said.
Her children were adults and she was suddenly alone, Barry said.
“You just find your way,” she said about her mother’s resilience.
“Love and dedication to family has always been important to her,” said Barry, adding that she learned many important life lessons from her mother.
“She always sees the glass half-full,” she said.
Some people might know his mom as “the cart lady” for the 25-plus years she volunteered at Alden Court Nursing Home, pushing a cart filled with gifts and items for residents, Rick Mulroy said. Everything on the cart had to be $1, he continued, describing many visits to the Dollar Tree store to help his mom pick up word search books, jewelry, candy, and lots of stuffed animals.
“They couldn’t wait for her to get there,” he said about nursing home residents.
“She’s always been on her own,” Rick Mulroy said. “She’s a good person. She always says to me, ‘Why am I still here? Why doesn’t the good Lord come for me?’”
Barry praised the staff at Taber Mills for the positive support they offer her mom.
“It’s amazing,” she said, referring to the many staff members in the room to celebrate her mother. “It’s unbelievable for her to be able to live independently and to see all the maintenance and office staff here today.”
Mulroy said she was happy to be 100.
“It’s a wonderful feeling,” she said. “It’s so nice to have so many people come and wish me luck.”
At the party, New Bedford city councilors Linda Morad and Shawn Oliver presented Mulroy with an official citation “birthday card.”
The city celebrates its residents who make this age milestone, Morad told Mulroy.
“We hope we’re back here next year for 101, 102, 103,” she said.
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