Marcetta Perry turns 100 years old

CRESCO - On Feb. 12, 2022, Marcetta Perry turned 100 years old. She and her family celebrated this momentous occasion with a birthday party that featured purple birthday cake (because Marcetta loves purple) and three big, fluffy balloons in the shape of a one, a zero and a zero. 

And everybody was there. 

Marcetta’s daughters, Marilynn of Cresco and Marsha of Ohio came. Marcetta’s grandson Jason came from Indiana, and another grandson, Aaron, came from Ohio. A great-niece even came all the way from Albuquerque to help celebrate the big day. And there was FaceTiming going on, too. Granddaughter Tonya and her sons talked with Marcetta all the way from New Zealand, and grandson Nathan and his family FaceTimed his grandmother from Saint Clair, Mo.

She also received lots of pretty cards from all over for a card shower.

“We toasted Mom with sparkling cider,” daughter Marilynn reported.

Perhaps everyone’s favorite, though, were all the three foot tall enlarged photos of Marcetta from different stages of her life. There was one of her as a baby, and another as a little girl. There was a graduation photo, and several of her as a young woman. 

One, in particular, was chosen for the fancy hat she was wearing, “I thought the hat was beautiful,” Marilynn noted. “And that’s why I chose the photo.” 

When Marcetta reached the party, she looked around, beaming, and the first thing she said was, “I hate that hat!”

Marcetta was born in Eddyville, Iowa on Feb. 12, 1922. She went to school in a one-room schoolhouse and either walked there or rode in a cart pulled by her pony. That is one of the biggest changes she’s seen in her lifetime: from riding in a cart pulled by a pony to going places in cars and airplanes. She particularly remembers flying in an airplane to Ohio to visit family. What a change that has been over the years.

After graduation, Marcetta taught for a couple of years at that same one-room schoolhouse in Eddyville. She taught all subjects to children from kindergarten through eighth grade. Part of her job was to fetch coal for the stove that kept the schoolhouse warm. “It wasn’t easy, but I enjoyed it,” she says.

During the war, Marcetta moved to Cedar Rapids and got a job at Turners making microphones and radio components for the war effort. Her job was filing down quartz crystals to very specific lengths used to measure radio frequencies. They called her “Eagle Eye” because she was so good at such excruciatingly exacting work.

On April 4, 1945, Marcetta married Albert Perry, her high school sweetheart from Eddyville. They were married for 68 years and had two daughters, Marilynn and Marsha; four grandchildren, Nathan, Tonya, Jason and Aaron; and five great-grandchildren.

The couple lived in Cedar Rapids for over 50 years. They moved to Cresco in 1999 to be closer to family. 

Marcetta likes having her hair and nails done, and enjoys sharing personal anecdotes and playing bingo. 

When asked the secret to a long life, Marcetta answered, “I try to take care of myself.” She also attributes lots of loving family and treating others kindly. 

And just for the record, Marcetta can’t believe she is 100-years-old. But she is, and somewhere, there’s a three foot tall picture of her in a hat she hates that proves it.