Here is a short article that was written in a small Toronto publication a few years ago when she turned 104 years old.
Harriet Marsh celebrates 104th birthday
Leslieville resident has called the neighbourhood home since 1971
Harriet Marsh
Staff photo/JOANNA LAVOIE
Harriet Marsh with her son Ray celebrated her 104th birthday on Sunday, April 1.
East York Mirror
By
Joanna Lavoie
Longtime Leslieville resident Harriet Marsh is likely the community's oldest member having turned 104 years old Sunday, April 1.
"I don't know what's keeping me alive," said Marsh, who celebrated her big day with an open house at her Caroline Avenue home.
"Maybe it's the Grand Marnier," piped in son Ray, who has lived with his mother for more than four decades following his father's death in 1971 at the age of 63.
"Maybe so," she laughed.
While her hearing and sight are both limited, Marsh is quick witted and sharp-tongued.
"My doctor said I've got good, clear intellect - so far anyway," said the tiny woman with soft, wavy snow white hair.
"I never thought I'd live this much over 100."
Ray, an accomplished actor and retired boxer who helps train competitive boxers twice weekly at Riverdale's Toronto Newsgirls Boxing Club, said he's amazed his mother has reached such an advanced age and looking out for her is the least he can do.
"She took care of me for a long time and she's also pretty easy to get along with," he said, adding his mother has a good appetite, takes daily vitamins and has never smoked.
Despite having arthritis, she's also still quite mobile, he said.
On nice days, Ray accompanies his mother on a stroll up the block to sit on the patio at the local pub. Other times, they drive over to the Beach for lunch.
Pondering her key to longevity, Ray said perhaps it's her love of sports - especially football and hockey - that has kept her going for so long.
Marsh's favourite football team is the New England Patriots, while for hockey she likes the New York Rangers.
It was a thrill to meet and take a photograph with her favourite player, Jaromir Jagr, about 10 years ago when the Toronto Maple Leafs hosted his mother's team, Ray said.
"She used to watch all of the games when she could see them," he said.
Marsh also attended several boxing matches her only grandson, Blair "Bam Bam" Marsh, fought. A former Ontario champion, Blair visits his grandmother two or three times a week.
Born in Hampton, New Brunswick, in 1908, Marsh (nee Piers) moved to that province's largest city of St. John as a child to attend school.
Tuberculosis killed both of her parents when she was eight years old. Her older sister, Helena, died when she was about 13 years old.
Harriet was sent to live with relatives in Boston, Mass., before moving to Los Angeles, Calif., where she worked at Bullock's department store.
She ended up in Toronto a few years later.
It was while working as a housekeeper in Los Angeles that Marsh met her future husband, Alec. The family hired Alec to do some painting and, well, the rest - as they say - is history.
The couple married in 1940 and four years later their only son, Ray, was born.
For years, Alec ran his own painting and decorating business, while Harriet kept the books.
The family lived downtown for several years before purchasing their circa 1907 home in Leslieville in 1971. Alec died six months after they moved in at the age of 63.
