The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
CENTENNIAL BIRTHDAY
Verona native celebrates 100 years of living
CLINTON, N.Y. » On July 16, 1920, Dorothy Hugunine (married name, Conroy) was born in her family home in the town of Verona. The same day in 2020, Dorothy celebrated her 100th birthday.
Dorothy now resides in the Brookdale senior living center in Clinton. Celebrating her centennial achievement had to be uniquely coordinated due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Up until recently, senior living has been “very isolating,” according to her daughter, Maureen Conroy, who is an aide for her mom and helped host her 100th birthday bash.
On her big day, Dorothy boarded a bus along with her daughter and together they visited cherished locations around the area for Dorothy to reminisce and say hello to old friends — from the social distance provided by the bus, or course.
“It’s kind of a bubble,” Maureen shared. “It was a tremen
dous success.”
Dorothy’s life over the last ten decades has been just as interesting as it has been long. Maureen shared insight on her mom’s early life, career, social sphere, and her love for a good glass of wine.
“That’s one of her secrets to longevity, she would claim,” Maureen commented. And longevity runs in the family — several of her relatives have lived well into their late 90s, she said.
Dorothy’s defining teenage and young adult years swept through the beginning, middle, and end of World War II. This defining historical moment, for Dorothy, would grant her opportunities and help her form bonds that would last her a lifetime, Maureen shared.
After graduating from Verona High School in 1937, a year late after being held back in elementary school for being “too small,” Dorothy did what many women at the time did and pursued a post-graduate certificate program before entering the workforce.
“That was the key for her in the end,” Maureen said. After studying business and bookkeeping for a year, Dorothy worked at Oneida Limited before the war and then moved on to the National Casket Company when the US entered the war in 1941. Here she worked as a telephone operator and was soon promoted to the bookkeeping department where she worked until 1945.
Her high school days still taunt Dorothy, Maureen
shared, because back then, students graduated when they were 16, and because she was held back a year, Dorothy was forced to graduate in the same class as her 11-month-younger brother, who was always on her heels. “He was constantly trying to steal the limelight,” Maureen said with a chuckle.
The eldest of five children, Dorothy always felt connected to family ties, her daughter said. Dorothy married Daniel Conroy in 1945, and it was around this time that she quit her job and began her journey in domestic life. The couple settled down, raised four children, and bought a house in Durhamville, in 1951, which is where the family called home for decades.
Maureen recalled, “[Mom] was a very early practitioner of equal rights. The boys did dishes, and the girl mowed lawns and shoveled snow. There were no gender-specific chores.” Later in 1951, the family dynamic would grow as Dorothy abruptly became the guardian to two teenage nephews for a few years.
Maureen reflected, “[My parents] invested in us. That was their first priority. And four kids grew up, went to college, and successfully launched out into the world.”
Before Dorothy settled and lived a busy domestic life, she took advantage of her independence during the war, a time when women were allowed more freedom, access, and opportunity, Maureen said. Dorothy adventured during this time with a close group of friends who were also working and putting their domestic life on hold.
The extra money in the women’s pockets meant frequent outings, cottage rentals at Sylvan Beach, and for Dorothy in particular, regular flying lessons.
Even before the war, being out and about was a huge part of young social life, Maureen explained. Dances and musical events were quite popular among friends.
Flash forward to her adult years, Dorothy’s social life rarely took a dip. She was active in her community, being a member of the Durhamville Fire Department, St. Francis Altar-rosary, PTA, and Catholic Daughters of America, where she’s one of the longest-standing members, Maureen said.
Her mother also attended
weekly bowling outings with friends Louise Cox Gardner, Hattie Flagler, Mildred Smith, Emogene Cmaylo, and Bernadine Cornish. Dorothy’s husband was also an active member of the Knights of Columbus and its fourthdegree honor guard, which afforded the couple regular opportunities for adult weekend-getaways with very close friends Mark and Winifred Dalton.
Later, Dorothy returned to work in 1966 after her husband retired. She joined the bookkeeping department at the Oneida Valley Bank where she stayed until her own retirement in 1982.
Shortly before retiring, she was widowed in 1981, and this again put Dorothy in a unique situation met
with opportunity, Maureen said. Dorothy and her surrounding friends, many of whom she had bonded with during the war, found themselves in a similar situation: their children had grown up, their husbands had passed, and they were ready to retire.
“Those friends carried her through the next couple of decades,” Maureen commented.
Dorothy then traveled for 30 years and lived life to the fullest. She embarked on dozens of wide-ranging travel adventures with her primary traveling companions and old friends Mary Jane Miller and Helen Helt, among many others. She explored the US and Canada as well as Mexico, England, Ireland, and the Middle East, to name a few.
One of her friends had a retirement home in Florida that the two would visit during the winter months, again gathering with their peers.
Maureen said Dorothy also became an active member of both the St. Joseph’s Senior group as well as the Verona Seniors, enjoying regular social gatherings, card games, and bus trips. “She was always a big card shark,” Maureen commented.
In 2011, after her 90th birthday, Dorothy moved to Marshall Place apartments in Sherrill, designed for adult living. The choice to move and sell her home in Durhamville signified another “retirement,” as she called it, Maureen said.
At Marshall Place, Dorothy was surrounded by friends that did everything together. She and Barbara Nurmberger, Eleanor Ford, and Mary Lyon were called the “four musketeers”
who would always be out and about together; Dorothy was the chauffeur. The group would regularly visit Ebenezeer’s Cafe in Sherrill almost every day.
Dorothy left Marshall Place and moved to Clinton in 2018. She actively drove until this time, when she was 98, Maureen shared.
Dorothy’s birthday bus trip took her to many of the beloved places from her past. Having lived closely with her faith for many years, Dorothy’s first stop was at Saint Helena’s church, where she said hello to familiar faces and was greeted by Father Mesmer.
A special stop was to her childhood home in Verona where her whole family was born and raised. Her youngest brother still lives in the family home, and her sister lives next door. “It was a much more private moment, but it was actually very special,” Maureen commented.
Lastly, her birthday travels took her to one of her all-time favorite restaurants, Ebeneezer’s, where she could enjoy some ice cream. In lieu of a normal party, those who wanted to celebrate Dorothy’s big day were invited to enjoy their own complementary cone.
“We often talk about her flexibility,” Maureen said. “You’ve just gotta take what’s thrown at you and figure out how to make it work.”
Even in old age, Dorothy is still “feisty,” Maureen said in good humor. “There’s nothing she likes more than some verbal jousting,” she added.
Dorothy’s long life has left a legacy. Her family has grown to include seven grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.