Mattapoisett celebrates 100 year old resident

May 7, 2020

MATTAPOISETT — Ask Anita Croft her secret to living to 100, and she has any number of hilarious answers. 

On her 100th birthday, May 7, her answer was, “having children do everything for you.” 

One of her children, Lisa Anderson, said when her mother’s eye doctor asked her that question her response was “never exercise, but have a glass of wine with dinner.” 

Croft lived in Canada until she was seven and then moved to Brockton. While studying at Malden High School, she met her husband of 60 years, Bill. 

Her primary occupation was as a bookkeeper, and she worked for H.P. Hood and Sons, which she called “a very nice company.”

Her husband served in the military as a salvage diver during World War II, then taught at Greater New Bedford Vocational Technical High School, which is what brought the family to the area in 1950. 

Over the years, the family has grown, from Croft and her two daughters (one who lives in Virginia) to include a number of grandchildren and great-grandchildren. The family hopes to have a socially distanced barbecue for Croft this summer.  

Croft always had a passion for people-watching and visiting with people. This included meeting her friend Hope Finley and other women over coffee, donuts and danishes every Sunday after church. She said she met most of her friends in town by “just living in it.” 

Finley hosted tea parties for the two and their friends well into their 80s and 90s, and said even in their old age the women never talked about their ailments. 

Other hobbies include reading and puzzles. Croft particularly loves murder mysteries, and when Cindy Johnson from the Mattapoisett Congregational Church (where Croft was a member for years) asked how many puzzles she had done, Croft replied “hundreds.” 

Johnson, who organized and led a small party of parishioners and friends in celebrating the centenarian, also recounted a story where Croft said she wouldn’t start dinner until after backgammon.

The Crofts traveled together up and down the east coast and to Reno, Nevada for salvage diver reunions, wintered in Florida for a decade and visited Canada and Mexico. 

Faced with a pandemic, Croft acknowledged life has changed, but her overwhelming reaction was one of patience. “I can wait” until it is all over, she said. 

Her worth to her friends, family and church community is clear. 

“Everyone loves Anita, and is a better person for knowing Anita,” Finley said. “Nobody can be that nice all the time, but she is.” 

Happy belated birthday, Anita!