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YourHub.com \\ Jensen Beach \\ Stories \\ Family & Friends \\ Stories

One Hundred Years and Still Ticking

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Contributed by: Amanda Brothers on 10/20/2007

On October 17, 1907 in Orange, Massachusetts, Gertrude Canedy was born; and
now nearly 100 years later, she is healthy and going strong. Mother of two, a
grandmother of six, a great-grandmother of thirteen and a great-great
grandmother of two, she now lives in Jensen Beach with her daughter (Elizabeth),
and son-in-law (Kenneth).
As a child, Gertrude lived in Greenfield, Massachusetts. She did not have the
many luxuries that kids have now, such as electricity, television, a telephone,
radio, or even a car. Her father did not get his first car until she was in the
ninth grade and she did not get a television until the 1950's, after she
was married. Mrs. Candey remembered as a child father worked as a carpenter and kept up with his garden and chickens.
As a teenager, Mrs. Canedy went to Greenfield High. There, she had a total of
five classes a day, which included the normal required classes English, history,
and civics; for fun she took newspaper and Spanish, and since she was enrolled
as a commercial student she was required to take typewriting and shorthand.
When she first started high school a new high school was being built, so in the
meantime she went to the old high school, starting at 1 pm and running into
later in the night. For entertainment as a teen she attended youth group at a
Metathesis Church. Before they had any movie theaters in their town, she was
able to go every Saturday night to the town hall and see a movie.
For jobs during her lifetime, around the ninth grade Mrs. Canedy did some
house work, but was not considered an employee. For pay, she didn't even get 25 cents an hour. Once she graduated high school she went it to work as an office-credit, which is similar to accounting.
In 1928, Gertrude married Andrew Canedy. She learned to ride a bike in the
1940s with Andrew and he also taught her how to drive a car when she was 18
years old, before they were married. Even though she knew how to drive a car,
she still chose to ride a bike, because gas was 15.7 cents, which was quite a
bit of money back then.
She can still drive today, but chooses not to. Andrew and Gertrude were
married for 59 years, and had two kids together. Sadly, he passed before he was
able to see the birth of his great and great-great grandchildren.
Gertrude has lived through many historical events; including both World Wars
and the Great Depression.
When asked what advice she would give to kids in high school these days she
said, "Follow rules and to just learn all you can. Also be truthful, honest and a good friend.

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