Heatherwood Retirement Community resident turns 100
BY Laura DillonHONEY BROOK, Jan. 27 – Carol Bree, a six-year resident at Heatherwood Retirement Community, celebrates her 100th birthday on Jan. 29.
“It’s really amazing,” said Jennifer Hacker, who has worked at Heatherwood since Bree arrived as a resident. “She’s an inspiration. She’s had some adversities, like limited vision, but she still comes down for things and has a positive attitude. She’s really sharp, and she has a lot of knowledge.”
The facility will have a small celebration for Bree, her family and her friends.
“We are going to have a big cake here in the dining room,” said Hacker. “The kitchen is making her favorite meal, and her family is coming. She didn’t really want us to make a big deal about it.”
Bree joined Heatherwood Retirement Community six years ago after moving to Pennsylvania to be closer to her son Jim and his family.
“I am not Pennysylvanian in any way, shape or form,” said Bree.
Bree grew up in Brooklyn, where she lived with her parents and five siblings. After her high school graduation, Bree went on to begin a life with her husband Joseph, working as a secretary and raising a family.
Bree recalls her life with Joseph and the things they did together as her fondest memories.
“I met Joe skating,” she said. “My brother had friends, and they would go skating once a week, and the one boy I guess had his eyes on me. He asked my brother for me to go skating with him, and I did, and that’s how I met my husband.”
The couple had two children, Jim and Carol, whom they raised in Rainbow Lakes, New Jersey.
“We built a house there ourselves with help from our friends who were skaters,” said Bree. “My husband was an ice skater.”
Bree’s husband was supposed to be head of the Olympics in 1932 but could not make it to Chicago to qualify.
“Anyway, his friends came up, they were trying to stay in shape for the season, and they would help us,” said Bree. “I lugged bricks and poured cement.”
Bree and her husband began building the house in 1934 and did not complete it until 1949.
“We would only be able to go work on it on the weekends,” she said. “Eventually, we would rent up there, and we made good friends. There were two men we never even met. They lived at the lake. They would come every weekend with their hammers, work all weekend and go home. We never knew their names or where they came from.”
Bree and her husband raised their family in that home.
“It was a nice house. We had bookcases on either side of the fireplace. The one bookcase was on tracks, and it slid, so you could go up to the attic from there.”
Bree also happily remembers the time she spent traveling with her husband after the kids had grown up and moved out.
“We did a lot of traveling, and we had a wonderful life,” said Bree. “Anywhere you can think of, you name it, we were there. My favorite place was Bermuda. There are nice memories from there.”
While in Bermuda, Bree and her husband met another couple, and they became lifelong friends.
“We were standing on a porch waiting to go into dinner,” said Bree. “Another couple came up and started talking to us. For 25 years or more, we met them every year some place in America to play golf. They lived in Canada.”
Bree lost her husband three years ago, but she holds on to dear memories of their life together.
With Bree’s 100th birthday approaching, her son also fondly recalls memories of his mother.
“She’s a great mom,” said Jim. “She was loved by everybody in the community where I grew up. They used to call her the cookie lady because people would go by with their kids, and she’d go out and give the kids cookies.”
Bree now resides at Heatherwood, where she has made friends and is regularly visited by her family.
“I wish I could do more, honestly,” said Bree. “I can’t take part in all the things I would like to do, like going out shopping, and things like that.”
Despite facing adversity in aging, Bree inspires the people around her and is appreciated.
“She has taught us all how to be gracious and have a sense of humor,” said resident Florence Dittrich. “Not once in the years I’ve known her have I heard her complain. Not once.”
“It’s not easy to age,” added Hacker. “She has done it so gracefully.”
