Grace Monteith, 107, therapist
wazzzy
Grace C. Monteith, 107, an early occupational therapist who lived in
three centuries, died Jan. 21 at the Stapeley retirement home in
Germantown, where she had lived since 1990.
When an Inquirer reporter asked in 2000 how it felt to be 100, she
smiled and responded: "Just like it does to be 99. I don't feel any
older, unless I'm trying to get in and out of a car."
"It's been a good life," she said. "You try to forget the bad ones and
don't knock yourself out over the good ones."
Mrs. Monteith was mentally sharp until the end of her life, said her
son, James.
"She was amazing," he said. "She could do crossword puzzles in ink,
and heavily salted everything she ate."
The former Grace Conner was born July 19, 1899, in Thorndale, Chester
County. She earned a bachelor's degree in 1921 from the Philadelphia
College of Occupational Therapy, which later became part of the
University of Pennsylvania. She practiced her profession in veterans
and military hospitals in Washington and in New Haven, Conn., where
she met a wounded World War I veteran, James F. Monteith. They married
in 1923 and lived in Coatesville before moving to Germantown in 1950.
He died in 1978.
After raising two children, Mrs. Monteith worked at the Coatesville
Veterans Administration Hospital from 1939 until 1948 as chief of
occupational therapy. Shortly before she retired, she lost sight in
one eye after a patient hit her over the head with a chair.
The injury did not deter her. She worked as an occupational therapist
at the Philadelphia Industrial Home for Blind Women from 1950 until
1954, when a bus ran over her near her home. She used a walker the
rest of her life.
She credited the bus accident for her longevity.
"It slowed me down. I think the fact that it slowed me down is
responsible for my living so long," she said in 2000.
After five years of therapy, Mrs. Monteith recovered enough to became
a volunteer at the National Park Service's Deshler-Morris House in
Germantown. The house, built in 1773 and commonly known as the
Germantown White House, was the residence of George and Martha
Washington in 1793 and 1794.
In 2000, the National Park Service honored her for volunteering more
than 2,000 hours to the house. Until a few years ago, she greeted
guests at Christmas Tea there.
In addition to her son, Mrs. Monteith is survived by a daughter, Ann
Martin; five grandchildren; 11 great-grandchildren; and three great-
great-grandchildren.
Services were private.
Brad Ferguson
wazzzy <enter...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Grace C. Monteith, 107, an early occupational therapist who lived in
> three centuries
The "lived in three centuries" thing has not worn well. It's lazy and
redundant. They might as well have written "Grace C. Monteith, 107, an
early occupational therapist who was more than a hundred years old."
Of course, if the three centuries they were talking about were the
14th, 20th and 63rd, then we'd have something worth talking about.