112 year old Red Sox fan dies. 112!!!
MIDDLEBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) -- Kathryn Gemme, a lifelong Red Sox fan who followed the team since the days of Babe Ruth, has died. She was 112.
Lifelong Red Sox fan Kathryn Gemme watched her first game at Fenway Park in 1912.Gemme died at the Nemasket Healthcare Center in Middleborough on Friday, according to the O'Neill Funeral Home.As an 18-year-old, she attended her first game at Fenway Park in 1912 shortly after the ballpark opened. At 109, Gemme was greeted by catcher Jason Varitek and former player and coach Johnny Pesky during her last game in May 2004.
Team officials brought the 2004 World Series trophy to her 111th birthday party in November 2005.
"That was a big day of her life,'' her daughter, Lucille Findley of Jacksonville, Ill., told The Boston Globe.
Before the days of television, Gemme would listen to Red Sox games on the radio and take detailed notes that she would later read back to her husband, Ovella, when he returned home from work.
Gemme credited her long life and health to simple living.
"I didn't drink, didn't smoke, I ate regularly. No fancy stuff," she once told The Enterprise of Brockton.
Although her eyesight, hearing and mobility failed, she remained mentally sharp until the end, said Sharon Gosling, Nemasket's activity director.
Born Kathryn Moreau in Chicopee in 1894, she graduated from Chicopee High School and attended a local secretarial school. During World War II she helped prepare parachutes for the Air Force.
Besides her daughter, she is survived by four grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
posted by Tim @ 22:47
8 Comments:
That's absolutely amazing!!
"That's absolutely amazing!!"
I know. To be a red sox fan for more than ninety years. Even the most stubborn of us new englanders usually give up after 40 or 50.
Here's an odd thought: she'd be just about the only sox fan to have seen them win the world series twice.
ag: actually, she would have seen the Red Sox win it six times. They were a power in the early days of baseball, winning the World Series in 1903 (the very first World Series), 1912, 1915, 1916, 1918 and 2004.
The Red Sox have participared in a total of 10 World Series and are a cumulative 6-4 (losing in the maximum 7 games in 1946, 1967, 1975 and 1986).
that's way more info than was needed. (ya know i grew up in the same town as you - i already know more about the silly baseball game and team than i care to)
and besides, while she may have seen them more than twice, the fact remains she's probably the only one recently on the scene to have seen them win even twice.
and if you want to get pedantic about it, she went to her first game in 1912, so she didn't see them win in 1903. And considering that she may not have gone to the 'world' series games in person and the 20th century wins were all in the age before television, she may not have 'seen' them win at all (since her vision had failed in the end - i don't know possibly before the 04 win).
So, we can sit here and get pedantic. Or we could just acknowledge the point i made.
You grew up in the same town as me? Do tell....;>)
ok so she didn't see all of the championships but my point was that she was alive for all of them, a rare feat and probably only one of a handful (at most) to accomplish it.. And I did not post that because she happened to be a Red Sox fan. I posted it because it's rare to hear of a person making it to age 100, never mind 112.
Wow, that's so amazing. I can't imagine living that long!
ke bove: welcome to my blog and thanks for taking the time to leave a comment. Hope you'll make this a regular read on your journey through bloggerland...
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