At birthday party, a life worthy of Downton Abbey

NORTH CANAAN — The town has become a mecca for people who want to enjoy their “twilight years” living in one of its many senior housing communities, which promise surroundings that are inviting and safe, full of friends and stimulating activities.

Many are “transplants” who add to the wealth of background stories among the residents. 

Count among them Cicely Mary Moore. She goes by Mary, and on Jan. 16, friends and family gathered at Geer Nursing and Rehabilitation Center for her 101st birthday celebration. The party was arranged by Therapeutic Recreation Director Stephanie Tierney and the staff at Geer.

Moore was presented with a plaque commemorating a Japanese embroidery  picture she gave to Geer on her 100th birthday.  

Among the celebrants was her daughter, Carolyn Calandro, who lives in Falls Village with her family.

She also has a grandson, Jamie, who lives on Long Island with his wife, Dympna, and 3-year-old child, Bryson. 

Calandro provided the following condensed version of her mother’s life (which Downton Abbey fans will love).

She was born Cicely Mary Reed in 1914 in a cold-water, stone cottage called a “two up and two down” (two bedrooms upstairs, two rooms downstairs) in Norton’s Wood in Clevedon, Somerset, in the West Country of England. 

She was one of 10 children of Florence and Mark Reed. At age 13, she left school to go to London to become a scullery (kitchen) maid in the home of an aristocrat. She eventually  worked her way up to become a lady’s maid to the “mistress” of the house. 

Her workload became excessive for the menial pay and, driven by homesickness, Cissy Mary returned to Clevedon to work in Hale’s Bakery  with her siblings. 

She became an excellent cake decorator and baker.

In 1939, she met her future husband, Thomas Allestree Moore, who was relocated from London by the BBC as a radio engineer. They were married on Aug. 30, 1940, and had 67 years together.

The couple lived through World War ll and the severe bombings of the West Country. Mrs. Moore gave birth to her daughter, Carolyn, on June 8, 1944 — the news of D-Day sending her into labor. 

In 1948, with all the deprivation in post-war England, Thomas Moore, having been in communication with another radio engineer in Canada, decided to emigrate. The family sailed on the Empress of France in October and met their Canadian contact under the clock in Toronto station.

After two years they were able to come to the United States.

Moore was a 25-year member of her church choir, taught and created Japanese embroidery masterpieces, and taught chair caning and “tinsel” painting. 

She and her 98-year-old sister in England are the last of the 10 siblings.