Fran Harris, center, has some 103rd birthday fun with her friends at the Bloom Pavilion in Margate.
MARGATE – April 29 is a special day for Essex Avenue resident Fran Harris. That’s the day she will turn 103 years old. Her family is planning a big get-together with a special weekend luncheon at Bocca Coal Fired Bistro, where she often enjoys dining out.
On Thursday morning, she was getting pumped up as she does twice a week at the Bloom Pavilion. She joined about 20 other men and women for exercise class on the second floor of the senior citizens recreation center where participants get a view of the waves rolling to the shoreline to the beat of the music.
“She does great, she is really unbelievable,” exercise instructor Peggy Jewitt of Margate said. “At times, she gets a little tired, but most times, she keeps up.”
Harris was born and raised in Atlantic City, but lived in Philadelphia, Cherry Hill and Ocean City before moving to Margate 22 years ago.
“I lived all over,” she said.
She was married to Joseph Harris for 47 years before he passed away about 25 years ago, she said. Now, she lives with her daughter Theresa and tries to get out of the house as often as possible.
Harris credits her longevity to her “good Italian roots,” she said. Her dad was born in the Abruzzo region of the Boot and emigrated to America where he landed in Atlantic City and raised his family.
“I’m going to be around for five more years,” she said after her workout. “I feel fine, but I’m losing a little mobility so I have to exercise and use a walker.”
And walking she does…shuffling to lunch dates and to meetings with the Sons of Italy and the Rosary Society at Blessed Sacrament Church. In addition to exercising at the Bloom Pavilion, she is an avid Red Hatter, and likes joining her girlfriends for fun events and happenings, she said.
She is the mother of three daughters, including Theresa, and has three grandsons, one granddaughter and five great-grandchildren – three girls and two boys – most of whom live in Pennsylvania.
Maryann Christian, who manages the senior center, made sure Harris got to the Bloom Pavilion on time Thursday morning on the city’s new senior bus. As she exited the vehicle, all her exercise mates lined up at the entrance to the building and sang, Happy Birthday. After class, they enjoyed some birthday cake and coffee. Harris took home the half of the cake that contained three big candles that spelled out 1-0-3.
“Fran used to be a member of the walking club we had, and we would go to Bocca all the time,” Christian said. “She loves eating, and she loves her cake.”
