Mackenzie N. Morgan
Special on ocgnews.com
Rockdale County – Dozens of families traveled to celebrate Mary Ingram’s 101st birthday on Saturday, August 6th.
Just a few years ago, on Ingram’s 99th birthday, the family joined the Rockdale County Fire Department and Conyers Police Department.
In addition to the cards, candy and money presents, Ingram received a special telegram from her family on her birthday over the weekend. Beside him, dozens of families are recording the event on their phones, blaring out to Boyz II Men’s hit hit “A Song for Mom”.
But her favorite gift was meeting her 28 grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Born Mary Ella Ingram on August 6, 1921, at her home in Hawkinsville, Georgia, was the daughter of sharecropper parents, Ella Rugenia and Johnny Baden. She was her seventh of her ten children, including an identical twin sister. She had a younger sister who died of malaria at the age of 15.
Growing up, Ingram enjoyed cooking in the kitchen with his mother and visiting the general store in town. A 10th grade educated, Ingram taught first grade and her sophomore year, and worked as a domestic worker well into her 60s.
Ingram married her hometown sweetheart, Joseph Ingram, and had ten children, four of whom are still alive. Seeking better opportunities, the family moved to Atlanta after their last child was born. They were married for 50 years and 3 days. Ingram cared for her husband until he died of a stroke in the 1990s. She Ingram never remarried.
Kenyata of Covington, one of Ingram’s grandchildren, Ingram, who has three children (Timaiyah, 19, Steve, 17, and Dallas, 6), attended the party. Mr. Kenyata remembered his grandmother doing various household tasks.
“She has never driven. Sometimes she let me help her, she was the mother chicken to everyone in the neighborhood, she didn’t have much, but she was going to feed you.
Ingram’s 89-year-old sister, Mattie Pearl Callaway, also attended the party. Callaway lives in Lithonia with her adult son.
According to family members, some relatives have lived from their 90s to hundreds of years.
When Mary Ingram was more active, her granddaughter said she enjoyed making quilts, cooking, and sewing. I participated in.
“Grandma used to go to water aerobics and take pottery classes at the rec center, the same place where she learned to quilt and sew,” Kenyata Ingram said.
As a hobby, Ingram made quilts for his grandchildren. One year, a gifted relative Ingram with a quilt embroidered with the names of all of Ingram’s children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. The list of descendants now exceeds the length of a quilt, with Ingram’s second great-great-grandchild being born just two weeks before his 101st birthday.
Throughout his life, Ingram has overcome many challenges. She grew up in extreme poverty in the countryside and worked tirelessly for her livelihood while raising her children after the death of her late husband, six children and her one daughter. has lived to bury her grandson and tell the story of her family.
Her most recent victory was in the fight against COVID-19 after the pandemic hit the United States in 2020.
Kenyata Ingram recalled receiving word that the patriarch had been diagnosed with coronavirus at the age of 98.
The normally healthy and energetic Mary Ingram suddenly became ill and disoriented, and her family called 911.
“She got sick. It seems like she was here, but she wasn’t. It was when the lockdown started and relatives weren’t allowed inside the hospital, so it was It was a terrifying time, she hadn’t left the house, nobody else in the house had been exposed, we were all in quarantine, so I don’t know how she got the virus. I did not know.
A few days later, the family learned that Mary Ingram tested positive after leaving home in an ambulance. News coverage was grim, but Ingram survived. She was discharged 2 weeks after her and her medical intervention was minimal.
“She wasn’t on life support or anything like that, and I’m really grateful that she’s back home,” said Ingram’s daughter, Fanette Ingram of Conyers, Georgia.
Fanette is Ingram’s youngest child and she was 40 when she gave birth. Fanette, 59, is one of Ingram’s four surviving children and she has been Ingram’s full-time caregiver since 2008.
Fanette remembered that her mother was an excellent cook.
“Mom was a good cook and a good bread maker. They did it,” said Fanette.
Fannett said there were times when her family couldn’t afford meat on the table. Her mother refrained from eating so that the children could eat. Ingram specialties include ho cakes, tea cakes and cakes baked from scratch.
Mary Ingram said blacks and whites get along in her hometown, but her biracial paternal grandmother, Nettie, told her when she learned slavery was over I talked.
“Grandma Nettie was going to the pond to draw water when her sister shouted at her, ‘Miss, throw that water over your head and let us go free!'”
Aside from severe arthritis and hearing loss, Mary Ingram boasts strength, health, and beauty. The last family event she attended was Thanksgiving 2021.
Once a month, clergy and congregations from East Atlanta’s Second Mount Vernon Church visit Ingram’s home for a 100th anniversary communion. During his 35 years, Ingram was an active member of the church and a member of the Mother’s Board.
Ingram spends most of his time relaxing at home, coloring, and talking on the phone with visitors and loved ones. Her favorite treats include tuna and Werther’s caramel her candy.
Rockdale County resident Mary Ingram turns 101 on August 6, 2022
DeKalb County celebrates its oldest resident turning 109.
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