She has seen all but one of the Red Sox’ World Series victories.She was alive when the Titanic sank.She saw a man land on the moon, the partition of Ireland, and the first black man elected President of the United States.And, at 103 years, 2 months, and 13 days old, Annie Jane Adams Craig is Dedham’s oldest resident.
Born in CountyDown in what is today Northern Ireland, Annie came to this country “like another fool, [to] make a fortune.”She came out to her brother, and began work cleaning houses.Eventually she married David Craig, who was from her hometown in Ireland and had also moved here.
David got a job working as the groundskeeper for Russell B. Stearns, a wealthy man who lived on Havern Street and who introduced Annie to both Dwight D. Eisenhower and Franklin Delano Roosevelt.Stearns bought a nearby house for the Craigs, and they raised their family there.Today, Annie still lives in that home and has 10 great-grandchildren spread out across the country.
Annie is still largely with it, though her memory fails her at times.At one point during the interview she insisted that she had spoken to her mother just yesterday.She is also a spitfire, asking her interviewer to take her on a date several times.She was also fiercely jealous, practically ignoring questions when they came from her friends but happily answering them when I asked.
Annie voluntarily gave up her license at the age of 94 – after passing the driving exam – but still likes to get out as much as possible.If weather permits she still goes to church at the Allin Congregational Church on Sundays.
Last week Annie sat down with myDedhamNews.com along with friends Palma Coccia, Cheryl Robbins, and Ellen Ebanks.It is their voices you hear, along with mine, off camera.It is also their photo you see at the end when the video ran out.
