98th Birthday of Mary Martha Gleeson Gilbert

My paternal grandmother's paternal aunt, Mary Martha Gleeson Gilbert, celebrated her 98th birthday at Santa Teresita Hospital in Duarte, located in Southern California. A photo of the celebration was published in the Los Angeles Times and also in The Tidings, the paper of the Catholic Diocese in Los Angeles.

Aunt Martha is technically my great-great-grandaunt. She was born 8 July 1863 in Carleton County, Ontario, Canada to parents John Gleeson and Margaret Tierney. The family moved to Dakota Territory in 1879. She married Warren E. Gilbert in Mitchell, Dakota Territory, on 9 September 1886. They had one child, Muriel. Warren worked many jobs, mostly as a salesman and they ended up in Southern California. 

Martha outlived her husband, who died in 1930, and her daughter, who died in 1956. She died in 1962 at the age of 99.

It is interesting to see the two articles. The photos and captions differ a little, though likely were taken near the same time. The junior volunteers are the same but in different positions around Aunt Martha.

The article was also helpful in learning more about Martha. She was at the Santa Teresita Hospital in the geriatrics department. The article from The Times focused more on the volunteers. The article from The Tidings mentioned she was a former parishioner of Immaculate Conception Church and that she had been living at the facility since 1956. Perhaps that coincided with the death of her daughter. This is something for me to consider.

#52Ancestors: Birthday 

This is my sixth year working on this year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow (https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/) at Generations Cafe. I write each week in one of my two blogs, either Mam-ma’s Southern Family or My Trails into the Past. I have enjoyed writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways.

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