Party time for Ethel M. Harrington

Ethel M. Harrington was the "queen for a day" at a birthday party celebrating her 100 years of life.

The petite lady, now a resident of Palm View Care Center in Yuma, was born in Manchester, England, on June 21, 1908.

"My grandparents were Welsh and English and brought Mom to Massachusetts when she was just 8 years old," said her daughter, Geraldine "Gerry" Polak.

"She shared stories about being raised in Springfield, graduating from high school and training in business and secretarial work.

"In her younger days, Mom was talented in music. She played piano and could really sing. She confided that when she was just 16, she had been invited to to to New York to dance with the Rockettes.

"She met and married my dad, William S. Harrington, on July 14, 1930. He was an optometrist. After he died in 1962, Mom stayed in Massachusetts until 1971, when my husband, Walter, a retired Marine, and I moved to Yuma."

Gay Anderson, now director of bereavement for Hospice of Yuma, said, "Ethel and I both worked for Doctors Robert Mallon and Victor Alvarez in the pathology department at Yuma Regional Medical Center. She was a receptionist and secretary and the most overly active person I've ever met. Always on the go, she was a perfectionist and mothering. Her love for family was foremost."

Anderson worked at YRMC until 2004 and said she hadn't seen Ethel for a time but keeps abreast.

Another side to Ethel's achievements was her time spent taking care of the nursery at Morningside Baptist Church. That's where she earned the nicknames of "Nan" or "Nanny."

With all of her energy, Ethel has had hobbies of ceramics, knitting, sewing, tatting and crocheting.

The honored lady also had a son, William S. Harrington II, four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

"At her birthday party, they played music, and Mom danced - she took my hands and danced in rhythm," Polak said. "Mom has lots of friends at Palm View Care Center."

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Pam M. Smith can be reached at
psmith@yumasun.com or 539-6856.