Two Southampton Women Turn 100

One attributes her longevity to walking a mile a day even into her 90s—that, and being German. The other attributes her longevity to the pure grace of God.

Regardless of reason, the two Southampton women, Mina Cory and Alice Darden, collectively total exactly 200 years of life experiences, each having recently celebrated her 100th birthday.

When they were born in 1911, both World Wars were still in the future, women still had not gained the right to vote, and life in just about every way was utterly different from the modern world.

Both women seemed somewhat surprised in recent days that they have joined the ranks of the centenarians. But if they share a common thread, it is that they enjoy strong family ties and social networks.

Ms. Cory, who was born on September 29, 1911, was a resident of the Southampton Shores section of North Sea, having lived in what originated as a summer bungalow purchased for $1,500 in 1941, a favorite family gathering place that became her year-round home in 1996.

The social butterfly now lives at the Hamptons Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing in Southampton Village, where she was surrounded by family and friends who toasted her with apple juice at a 100th birthday party last Thursday, September 29.

At the center, Ms. Cory relishes participating in as many social activities as possible with other residents of the facility, according to her daughter, Mina Cory Kahofer, 77, who lives in Wainscott. As a young girl, Ms. Cory was always on the go. She loved swimming at Coney Island, horseback riding and playing tennis. As a young adult, she volunteered at Southampton Hospital. But family has always been the centerpiece. Her son, Daniel Cory, 72, a Brooklyn resident, reminisced about how she would cook and bake delectable German delights, preserving her ancestors’ culinary traditions from their native southern Germany.

“Family was everything to her,” Ms. Kahofer said of her mother, a once-avid reader who unfortunately has been robbed in recent years of her memory, due to dementia. On the other hand, Ms. Cory is doing well physically, her daughter said. Even after a century, for example, Ms. Cory, remarkably, still walks without the aid of a walker.

“She always says, ‘I’m a lucky old lady. I have no aches or pains, no complaints,’” Ms. Kahofer said on Friday, with a smile.

Ms. Darden, who was born on August 31, 1911, lives in a small house on Hillcrest Avenue, also in the village, with her granddaughter Alice Johnson and great-granddaughter, Monet Levy, 20. A Baptist, she attends services at the First Baptist Church of Bridgehampton every Sunday and claims that she has reached 100 simply because it was God’s will. Family is also at the centerpiece of life for Ms. Darden, who celebrated her birthday in Aquebogue last month.

“If you live in this world and don’t go to a family reunion, you miss it all, you ain’t got nothing to tell,” Ms. Darden said cheerily at her home on Tuesday afternoon. Dressed in a carnation pink sweatsuit, with a pearl necklace and clip-on earrings, the Virginia native, who came to the East End in 1929, first in East Hampton and Bridgehampton before moving to Southampton Village, sat on her living room couch and recounted some of her travels from around the world. Unfortunately, she recalled, she missed going to the Holy Land because her husband, Harrison, had fallen sick at the time.

Propped among family photographs are framed birthday wishes from President Barack Obama.

“She’s a strong lady. She’s all about family,” Ms. Johnson noted proudly.

Meanwhile, Ms. Levy spoke appreciatively of living under the same roof as her great-grandmother. “I’ve learned a lot by all of her wisdom,” she said.