A CENTURY OF MEMORIES
New Milford man celebrates 102nd birthday
NEW MILFORD — When Clarence Joyce was born in a Brookfield farmhouse on March 13, 1919, President Theodore Roosevelt had died in his sleep two months earlier, and the Treaty of Versailles would be signed by the end of June, ending World War I.
Clarence, who turned 102 on Saturday, still remembers the single lightbulb they had, right in the middle of the farmhouse ceiling.
On Friday, Clarence sat with his 100-year-old wife Mary, and the couple of nearly 84 years used their daughter’s iPad to talk about life, love and the big birthday celebrations on Saturday.
The Joyces recently got their COVID-19 vaccinations at the high school and said they were looking forward to a birthday dinner with the family at Colosseo, an Italian restaurant in town. Children, grandchildren and greatgrandchildren would be in attendance — at two separate tables to accommodate for COVID regulations — to celebrate 102 years of Clarence Joyce.
The couple planned to indulge in a tri-berry tiramisu sent by a friend for dessert.
“I always thought if I lived to be 50, I’d be fine,” Clarence said.
“We’re just thankful for what we have,” Mary added. “We have a good home here. We’re well taken care of thanks to Nancy and our other two children.”
After 52 years in the house Clarence and his father spent four years building in Danbury, the couple moved to New Milford to live with their daughter Nancy Schulz, a retired nurse, and her husband. They have their own little basement apartment in her house, and have recently been working on a jigsaw puzzle together.
“I did everything in the house except build cabinets and fireplace,” Clarence said of the house on Longview Avenue. “I didn’t ever want to leave it.”
Clarence was an only child and grew up on a farm in Brookfield with his parents. His birth was a difficult one, which was perhaps why his mother only had one child, Nancy said.
“I didn’t like living on a farm. I don’t like farming at all,” Clarence said.
After a short time at Danbury High School, Clarence headed to a state trade school in Danbury, which he said is now home to Henry Abbott Technical High School, and eventually took a job as an electrician at Republic Foil, where he stayed for 30 years. He also spent time in the Navy during World War II, working at the post office to get mail to his friends, Mary said.
By 18, Clarence had met the girl he was going to marry. The teens met outside the Danbury courthouse when Mary was there for a class trip, and the two eloped in New York just a short while before Mary’s 17th birthday. It was the mid-1930s, and the country was still recovering from the Great Depression, so there wasn’t much money for wedding finery. Mary wore a green dress because Clarence liked the color. And for several months, they didn’t tell their families.
“Nobody knew about it,” Clarence said. “It was a runaway thing.”
Mary said it was not something she advised her grandchildren to do.
They both remember the judge’s wife playing an old pump organ, and the presence of another couple getting married who served as witnesses. It took all of about 30 minutes, Clarence said.
“They tried to make it ceremonial for us,” Mary recalled. Once it was all over, the teens then went back to their own homes.
It’s been a quieter 12 months for the couple that has spent nearly 84 years together. Clarence and Mary were used to going to church every Sunday and eating out at least once a week with their friends, who the 74year-old Schulz pointed out were her age. Most of their contemporaries are gone now, but Mary said they still have some very good friends.
“We hang out with the young crowd,” Mary said.
The centenarians had some thoughts on the most important life lessons they’ve learned in their 100plus years on earth. Things might look totally different now, but the lessons were universal and timeless.
Mary said it was important not to “make big over small things,” and to “kiss each other goodnight every night, which we still do.”
Ffor Clarence, it was simple. “Be nice to everybody.”