Soon-to-be centenarian: Where does the time go?
For lifelong Aberdeen resident, there's no place like home
BY ERIN O. STATTEL Staff Writer
She may have lived through two world wars, the Great Depression and a recent invention known as the Internet, but if it isn't a lawn mower, Alice Grace Schanck McGuire doesn't want to know about it.

McGuire will turn 100 years old on Sept. 18, but for every day it doesn't rain until then, she will be out in her yard, mowing the grass and raking any rogue leaves that have blown onto her property.

"She is very independent and she spends her time taking care of her yard," said McGuire's granddaughter Beverly Causby. "Her yard is her pride and joy."

"I will do it myself," is the answer McGuire frequently gives her family, Causby explained.

"She is out here all the time," Causby said, gesturing to the grassy surroundings in McGuire's backyard. "All the fresh air and exercise is good for her. She is healthier than me."

As for McGuire, she can't believe she has lived so long.

"I can't quite believe it," she said last week. "But here I am, and I have lived in Aberdeen all my life."

McGuire raised two children, a son who is now in his 80s and lives in Connecticut, and a daughter who has since passed away.

She has 13 grandchildren, and the count for greatgrandchildren and great- great-grandchildren has become almost impossible to keep track of.

"My son calls her Amazing Grace," laughed Gert Shaw, also of Aberdeen, and who is McGuire's second cousin.

Family is one of the more important things in McGuire's life, but it is clear that she has quite a passion for the outdoors.

"I do a lot of work in my yard," McGuire said. "I had a big pile of weeds that I needed to cut down, so I took them down with an ax. I get a lot of rabbits out here, so I feed them."

McGuire said that she enjoys sitting on her screenedin porch and watching the activity on Atlantic Avenue.

"It used to be a dirt road and I could count the number of cars that drove by on my hand. There weren't any streetlights either," she said. "There was a grape vineyard across the street, and I used to fill up my basket with the grapes there."

McGuire said that she could remember playing in her yard as a young girl.

JEFF GRANIT staff In recognition of her longevity and independent spirit, a family member has aptly dubbed McGuire "Amazing Grace."

"My mother used to give me a pan and a spoon and I would pretend to bake," she laughed.

The pretending must have paid off, because her grandchildren and family think her cooking is excellent.

"She makes a mean pot roast," said Causby. "She likes to cook and she is good at it."

McGuire claims she has no vices, but she does have a bit of a sweet tooth.

"I don't drink liquor, I don't smoke," she said. "And I don't have time for men."

But she does like sweets.

"Oh, she likes cakes and ice cream," said Causby.

McGuire laughed and said she likes homemade cakes, adding, "I haven't had any in weeks though!"

Cake is one of the things she is looking forward to when her family throws her a 100th birthday party at the Buttonwood Manor in September.

"All of my grandkids and nieces and nephews and family will be there," she said with a smile.

Causby said that McGuire worked all her life with a cleaning service that serviced sites in Edison, Asbury Park, Freehold and Red Bank, many times watching young children while cleaning houses.

"Those children are all grown and some of them will be at her party," Causby said. "Some of the people she worked with will be there too. People want to see her."

McGuire said that material things don't matter to her and that she doesn't have time for television or music.

"I work outside all day and then I watch the news, 'Jeopardy' and 'Wheel of Fortune,' " McGuire said. "No one tells me what time to go to bed, so I sit on my porch and watch people go by my house."

McGuire said that she has traveled to Connecticut and Georgia, but her home in Aberdeen is where she likes it best.

"There are too many bugs in Georgia," she said. "I like it right here."

McGuire explained that her home was built in 1923 and Causby said that her grandmother was married in that same house.

"I guess my father wanted me to have it," McGuire said. "He left it to me, and I try to keep it up the best I can." McGuire was married in 1930, and five short years later she became a widow. She still wears her wedding band despite her independent spirit.

She raised her two children and looked after countless others, but she said that she thinks children today don't have enough discipline.

"Kids aren't as well-behaved as they used to be," she said. "In those days, parents were the parents and kids were the kids. Now, kids are parents and parents are kids."

Causby and Shaw said that McGuire was always loving and caring, but was strict with the children, teaching them respect and discipline.

"When you say no, it is no," she said when asked what her secret to child rearing was. "And when you say yes, it is yes. Too many parents don't know how to stick to it. I always made my children mind me, and if they're not going to mind me, don't bring them here."

Besides her family and her yard, McGuire loves holidays.

"At Christmastime she pulls out all the stops and decorates her whole house with her collection of Christmas trinkets," Causby said. "She must have a million things."

"I like that time of year," McGuire said. "I like the winter time, too. I can get warm in the winter, but I can never get cool enough in the summer."

When it snows in Aberdeen, McGuire can be seen shoveling the snow out of her way in her yard.

"I always shovel my snow," the soonto be-centenarian said. "I enjoy myself."

McGuire stopped driving six years ago, but still goes to church every Sunday at St. James A.M.E. Zion Church.

"I just get up and go," she laughed. "I don't drive now, but I was a good driver. I never drove over the speed limit. Too many people drive too fast, and that's why I see so many smashed-up cars driving along my street."

These days McGuire drives her Jacobsen lawn mower and doesn't know where the time goes.

"I never thought I would live to be 100," she laughed. "I don't know where the time goes."