~ The Advocate Asks ~

Millie Doucette shares some advice on how to live to be 100. She credits her faith in God, holistic medicine, a great personal doctor, diet and exercise – a lot of dancing

 

  Editor’s Note: For this week’s column, we sat down with Millie Doucette, the newest Centenarian of Saugus, who celebrated her 100th birthday yesterday (Thursday, Aug. 22) with family. She is an Everett native – one of two children born to Madeline and Patrick Saveriano, Italian immigrants who moved to that city shortly after coming to America. Millie, whose birth name was Fortuna Saveriano, is a 1943 graduate of Everett High School. She was married to Richard Doucette, from Malden, for 28 years before they separated. After living in a Revere apartment for five years, they bought a house on Clifton Avenue more than 60 years ago. The couple raised three children: Paul Doucette, who lives with his wife Cheryl in Saugus; the late Joyce “Kid Doucette” Walton, a lifelong Saugus resident who died five years ago; and John Doucette, of Olympia, Washington, who passed away three years ago. All three Doucette children were students of Saugus Public Schools and graduated from Saugus High.

  Millie continues to live in the four-bedroom, Cape-style house that she and her late husband bought more than six decades ago. After a century of living, she maintains a remarkable and independent lifestyle for somebody her age. She cooks for herself, and up until a few years ago she was still driving a car. She has a passion for reading nonfiction books, which are scattered all over her house. She’s very articulate in conversation and seems to be very knowledgeable about current events. She credits her good health and longevity to a life of great faith, smart eating and regular exercise and her “main hobby”: dancing.

  She proudly displays a trophy that sits on the mantel in her living room for being “Overall Winners” with her partner John DeGeralamo in a 2006 dance contest at the Saugus Senior Center. She presided as “Prom Queen” at Senior Prom hosted by Saugus High School students two years ago at the Saugus Senior Center. She ran the ballroom dance hall at Blessed Sacrament Church in Saugus for six years. During World War II, she entertained the troops with her dancing at USO functions held at North Station. She also helped organize ballroom dancing at the Roller World Skating Event on Route 1. For many years, dancing was a big part of her life. She has a 10-year-old female Turkish Van cat named “Winter,” who keeps her company.

  Highlights of this week’s interview follow.

 

  Q: Please tell me a little bit about your family, growing up.

  A: My mother and father came from Italy and settled in Everett, where I was born. I had a brother, Joseph Saveriano, who died in Palm Springs, California, last year. He was 98. My father was a tailor. He made sample suits for men. He was an excellent tailor and made all of my clothes for school

  Q: As you look back over your life, what are you most proud of?

  A: I had three wonderful children who loved each other deeply and never fought. We had two boys and a girl. One child is still alive; Paul Doucette of Saugus lives with his wife Cheryl. He’s very helpful. He was a transmission specialist. When he was a little boy, I gave him a coffee pot. He would take it apart and put it back together again. I was 51 when I had him.

John was a draftsman. My daughter Joyce was a dental technician. She also typed out the reports of the Holocaust survivors of World War II to preserve their stories. Her name is down in Washington, D.C. [at the Holocaust Memorial Museum] as a historical transcriptionist.

I have six grandchildren, three great-grandchildren and one great-grandchild who just turned five – a small little boy in Everett

  Q: How did you meet your husband?

  A: I met my husband at the bowling alley in Malden, right on Broadway. He wouldn’t let me out of his sight from that day on. He was at the house every day.

We dated a year and a half and got married. We got married in Everett at St. Anthony’s. We lived for five years in an apartment in Revere. After five years he said, “Let’s buy a house.”

I had saved $2,000 from the money he gave me. I was able to save it from shopping smart for food. I bought shoulder lamp chops. We had a lot of shin bone soup. We always had a balanced meal. Starch and vegetables.

My uncle knew a real estate agent who knew about this house in Saugus (on Clinton Avenue). I’ve lived in this house for over 60 years.

  Q: During your time in Saugus, have you been active with youth organizations?

  A: I was a Campfire Girls sponsor for eight years. And I later became a leader. I had three girls who earned the WoHeLo Medallion – the highest award for campfire girls.

  Q: That would be the equivalent of an Eagle Scout badge for Boy Scouts?

  A: Yes. I’m very proud of those three girls. They all went onto college. Janet Griffen, Carla Saunders and Beth Agersea. Carla (now Carla A. Scuzzarella) went on to become a principal at the High School [Saugus Middle-High School].

  Q: This meatloaf you cooked for lunch today is excellent. I enjoyed it.

  A: Thank you. I happen to like cooking. It’s a challenge.

  Q: Do you have a favorite dish that you love to cook?

  A: If I were cooking for company and they liked Italian, I would cook lasagna. I’ve made a lot of lasagna in my life.

  Q: Do you still drive a car?

  A: No. I lost my license a few years ago. I was a careful driver. I was 28 when I got my license. I never wanted to drive. But it was the best thing I ever did. I drove until I was 96. I had a minor accident on Route 1 and lost my license. I didn’t challenge it, only because my children didn’t want me to keep driving.

  Q: What was your favorite car?

  A: A Buick Skylark – a beautiful blue color.

Q: Have you belonged to any clubs?

  A: I started a club. It had no name. Just a club to get together, and one time we had 16 women in the club, from Saugus and surrounding communities and one from New Hampshire. We went out to every restaurant around the area from the time I was 30. We made a lot of close ties.

  Q: What’s the most interesting thing that has happened in your life?

  A: Probably going out to California and having my brother (Joseph Saveriano) take me. He was living in Palm Springs, and he took me down to where my niece was. Her house was at the top of a cliff. It was a beautiful house. It was in Fallbrook, California. My niece was an actress – Pat Woodell – who played the smart sister [Bobbie Jo Bradley] in the TV program “Petticoat Junction.” She was born in Winthrop. After she left “Petticoat Junction,” she was in several movies: “The Class of ’74,” the “Big Doll House” and the “Twilight People.”

  Q: What were your favorite hobbies?

  A: Dancing was my main hobby, and I liked playing cards. I love reading. If you look around my house, you’ll see books everywhere. I don’t like fiction.

  Q: You seem to be in pretty good health for somebody who is about to turn 100.

  A: Forty years ago, I got involved with holistic healing.

  Q: Do you credit that to your longevity?

  A: Definitely. It helped. I lived this long because I went to Sunday School and learned about Jesus, who was a wonderful man. He helped everyone. And if more people would be like him, it would be a wonderful world. I keep the faith. God is in my heart.

I didn’t plan to live to 100. I really believe that God didn’t want me yet. This is the reason I’m probably still here – is that I tried to live the way Jesus lived. I always tried to help people, and being honest and living right has brought me to this point. Diet and exercise. I still do that. I try to eat the right foods. Foods are healing. And I don’t take any medication.

  Q: Is there anybody else in your family who has lived to 100?

  A: No. My mother died at 71 and my father lived to be 86. I had an aunt who was 98. And my brother was 98 when he died.

  Q: There have been 17 presidents of the U.S. during your lifetime. You would have voted for a lot of presidents over the years that you were registered to vote. Who was your favorite president?

  A: I thought Ronald Reagan was great. I was surprised that he became president, though. I thought Bill Clinton was very smart. It was strange how the economy turned around when he got into office.

  Q: Have you had any interesting jobs?

  A: Yes. My husband took a real estate course. Two weeks before the test, he said, “Why don’t you do it?” So I did.

I was in the real estate business for one year. It was fun. I sold a couple of houses on my own.

  Q: Do you have anything on “the bucket list”? Any remaining goals or projects in your life that you would like to complete?

  A: I’d like to make a book of my [late] friend Sidney’s poems so all of his poems won’t be lost. Sidney Russell of Lynn. He was into poetry and genealogy and he loved dancing. He gave me a collection of his poems. I want to give the world those poems because of the time he put into them.

  Q: What are all of these birthday cards on your dining room table? It looks like they are all for you. I like the one from Tonya, which says, “Millie, A Century of Life, Love and Laughter. Wishing you a very happy birthday!!”

  A: There are over 60 cards, all for me. I’ve been getting between three and six a day. They are from the Heart Club, a Facebook Club. They send cards to people who are 100. I’ve gotten them from Hawaii. I don’t know how they found out about me. Somebody must have sent my name in.

  Q: That’s probably the most birthday cards you have ever received.

  A: Yes.

  Q: Is there anything else that you would like to share?

  A: I mentioned before about giving a lot of credit to holistic medicine. Except, Dr. James Brown of Peabody was always there for emergencies. I do need to give him some credit. He’s a great doctor. And I’ve been going there for 15 years.

I loved playing cards. We played at Josie Comeau’s house in Saugus for 40 years, almost every week. There were six of us. Three women are still alive. Myself and two others: Josie Comeau and Kay DeGennaro. And that was great fun.