The 100 club: Two Montevue Assisted Living residents become centenarians

Nov. 27—Even with the medical advancements seen in the last century, it remains rare for Americans to live to celebrate their 100th birthday.

But on Sunday, Margie Stream, a Texas native who lives at Montevue Assisted Living in Frederick, entered the 100 Club.

And on Dec. 12, Mary Frances Frye, another Montevue Assisted Living resident who spent most of her life in Brunswick, will join her.

The Frederick News-Post recently spent a morning with both women to hear stories from their century on Earth.

Margie Stream

Stream's daughter, Darlene Umberger, continually wonders at her mother's memory.

Days before her 100th birthday, Stream could still recall the names of the couple who ran the restaurant in Freeport, Texas, where she worked as head cashier when she was 18.

She remembers the year she and her husband moved to Wheaton — 1945 — and the exact date they bought their home in Dickerson — Oct. 10, 1946.

"I think it's because I kept so busy," Stream said about why her mind has stayed so sharp. "And God's been so good to me."

Stream was born on Nov. 27, 1922, in Nacogdoches, Texas, a small city north of Angelina National Forest that is considered the oldest town in the state.

One of nine children — her mother had two sets of twins — Stream grew up on a farm, alongside horses, chickens, hogs and a mean couple of goats. Then, when she was 18, she moved to Freeport to live with her aunt.

There, she met a young man named Tom Stream, who was stationed at a nearby U.S. Air Force base. They had only been going out for about six weeks before he asked her to marry him. She said yes. She knew he was the one.

"He was the nicest husband that anyone could ever have and the nicest father and grandfather," she said of Tom, who died in 1991 of leukemia.

"And you loved him," Umberger said quietly, watching her mother.

"I loved him so much," Stream said. "And he did me. But he died in my arms."

They were married on June 1, 1941. After Tom was discharged from the military, the couple moved to Maryland in 1945. The following year, they bought a house in Dickerson, where Stream stayed until she moved in with Umberger in 2005.

It was there, at the bottom of Sugarloaf Mountain, that Umberger grew up with her brother, David, who died of a heart attack in 1983 at the age of 39.

They used to drive to downtown Frederick on Friday nights as a family to go out to eat. They'd get a hot dog at White Star Lunch-N-Ette, which closed in 2016, or stop at Watson's Family Restaurant.

"They had the best fried chicken," Stream said, shaking her head at the memory. "Oh, boy."

Stream, who has four grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren, was hospitalized with COVID-19 and pneumonia earlier this year. They almost lost her, Umberger said, getting emotional at the memory.

With everything Stream has been through — including five back surgeries and four hip replacements — Umberger can't believe she's still here.

"God's not ready for her," she said, looking at her mother.

"I'm just strong minded," Stream said, "and I keep busy, busy."

Mary Frances Frye

Frye likes to say that you're only as old as you feel.

That's lucky for her, because, despite being weeks away from turning 100, she said she doesn't feel very old. She sometimes jokes that the doctors gave her the wrong birthday.

"Every morning, I feel good," she said. "Don't have ache or pain."

Frye, or "Sis," as her family called her, was born on Dec. 12, 1922, around Kearneysville and Charlestown, West Virginia.

Like Stream, she grew up on a farm, following her dad around as he milked the cows and cared for chickens, pigs and horses.

With many mouths to feed — Frye was one of three girls, and had a brother and a step-sister — her parents were always working. Her father was mostly a farmer, but also held down other odd jobs as they came along. He finally saved enough money to purchase a farm of his own after Frye got married.

Frye met the man who would become her husband, William "Pete" Frye, when their families were working on neighboring farms outside of Charlestown.

Her son, Robert Frye, recounted a story from when the two of them were dating.

One day, when Pete's father told him he couldn't borrow the car to take Frye on a date, Pete asked him to drive him to Charlestown. There, he bought a car of his own with the paycheck he earned from working on the railroad — a 1935 Ford that cost about $150.

Frye had to give her boyfriend money from the paycheck she earned as a secretary for a school superintendent so he could buy cigarettes.

"He spent all his money on the car," Robert said, as his mother laughed at the memory.

The two of them were married on Dec. 6, 1942. They moved into a home on Chick Lane in Rosemont about 10 years later.

After working as a farmhand and truck driver, among other jobs, Pete became the manager at Potomac Furniture Company in Brunswick.

Frye, meanwhile, was a wonderful homemaker, Robert said. She raised hogs and chickens, and a bounty of fresh produce in her garden. He remembers sitting with his dad in front of a bushel of lima beans for hours and hours, hulling them for her to can.

"She wound up giving half of it away," Robert recalled. "That's the other thing. All of our neighbors got something."

"Oh yes, oh yes," Frye said, nodding. "They had to have something."

She is also famous for her family dinners, Robert said. When his mother was cooking — whether it be for Thanksgiving, New Years or Easter — nobody went away from the table hungry. Sometimes, as many as 20 people were seated in their dining room.

She continued the tradition for years, even after her husband suddenly died on her 60th birthday. She is, by all accounts, an amazing woman, her son wrote in a typed summary of her life.

When he was growing up, he learned the value of hard work from his mother and father, as well as how to treat people.

Not from any specific advice they gave him, he said. Just in the way they acted.

Follow Angela Roberts on Twitter: @24_angier