Jan. 27—A Mary Pickford movie debuted the day Madge Houser Kean was born.

Kean, known to friends and family as Granny, likely never saw the second-highest grossing movie of 1918, “Stella Maris”.

Her life was too busy from the get-go on Jan. 21, 1918. But it was fun and cake last Sunday when the Weatherford woman turned 106.

That milestone was remarkable, not only for its testament to her longevity. Baby Houser’s chances of just living through infancy were in doubt, with her mother dying within five months of giving birth to her eighth child inside their Vale, North Carolina, home.

“So she was placed with an aunt who was able to be her wet nurse for a year,” her daughter, Norma Hill of Weatherford, wrote in a biography of her mother’s life and times.

William Lee Houser remarried, to Mary Ethel “Mom” Houser, who brought her own three children to the 80-acre farm where the family lived a hardscrabble life.

“All the children had to work on the farm,” Hill wrote in the two-page bio shared with the Weatherford Democrat.

The family raised pigs and chickens, gardening their own fruits and vegetables. Cotton, their cash crop, was sold to buy sugar, flour, tea, coffee, things the family couldn’t raise themselves.

“Granny says there was never new clothes,” Hill wrote. “But she says their family was lucky because they did not go to school hungry, whereas a lot of kids did.”

The farmer’s daughter grew up being called upon to help other children in their one-room schoolhouse.

“Granny was always a quick study and was always called upon to help other children,” Hill said. “(She) has always encouraged her children to study hard and do well in school.”

Her two daughters obeyed Mom’s school rule, with Hill now a retired microwave radio engineer. Working at Western Electric in Dallas, she was on the team that developed the precursor to fibre optics.

Back in North Carolina, the good student graduated in 10 years, married Glenn Kean and the couple moved to Maryland by World War II.

There, they took jobs building airplanes at the Martin-Marrietta factory, where Kean joined the iconic American army collectively known as Rosie the Riveter.

In addition to Hill, the Keans had daughter Glenda (Kean) Canipe, now in Western Maryland. Granny is a grandmother of three with two great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren.

She joined her daughter in Weatherford after Hill retired here in 2010.

“Granny loved to visit all of her family,” Hill said. “For many, many years — two times every year, Granny drove by herself between North Carolina and Texas. She made her last trip when she was 90! Of all of her family, she was the only one that left North Carolina.”

Hill writes that Granny is able to walk and do most things unassisted at Hilltop Park Rehabilitation and Care. Her hearing is more suited for a Mary Pickford film, but her daughter reports her Super Ear is a great help.

“Her sight is dimming and memory sometimes is not so good,” she wrote. “But throughout her life her health has been very good and she has not suffered with any illness or aches and pains.”

Nineteen U.S. presidents have occupied the White House since Granny was born, 19 months before women could vote here.

“She has lived through two pandemics and two World Wars,” Hill wrote. “Imagine the changes she has seen — from outdoor toilets, no electricity or phones, maybe just a fireplace and a pot-bellied stove for heat. Granny is a lovely person and is always kind. … Granny realizes how much she has been blessed with good health and is grateful for it. Norma knows how lucky she is to have her.”