Adeline Lewis-Lancaster – 102 not out and in high spirits

Adeline Lewis-Lancaster celebrated her 102nd birthday anniversary on June 12. She was born June 12, 1921. Lewis-Lancaster, who is from Crofts Hill in Clarendon, currently resides in Queens, New York with her sole surviving child, Jean Lewis.

Explaining the secrets behind her longevity, she said that she eats right, do not drink or smoke and goes to bed early. “Love of family and friends is also a contributing factor,” she said.

Lewis-Lancaster, who recently suffered a stroke, and is now bedridden, said that she attended Crofts Hill All-Age School in Clarendon at the Crofts Hill Baptist Church hall because there was no school building at the time. After leaving Crofts Hill All-Age School, she became a seamstress, following in the footsteps of her mother who was herself a seamstress.

“I learned to do embroidery, both hand and machine,” she told The Gleaner.

In 1962, she migrated to the United States, where she worked as a babysitter and later got married. She had three children of her own, two boys and a girl. Her sons pre-deceased her. Her last son passed away in 2020, he was in his 50s and had Down’s Syndrome.

DEVOTED

Her daughter, Jean, said that her mother was devoted to taking care of her son and refused for him to have any operation to try and cure his condition.

“She was totally devoted to taking care of him. She did so while at the same time still doing her baby-sitting job,” said Jean Lewis.

Lewis-Lancaster said that it was important to keep the family together, a task to which she dedicated herself. She is the last surviving child of her 14 siblings.

Recalling her days growing up in Croft Hills in the 1920s, she said that people were pleasant and had a sense of community bonding.

She told The Gleaner that a typical day in her childhood consisted of fetching water from the spring before going off to school. Later she, along with her brothers and sister, would assist their father in his farming chores.

“We had a big yard so we grew whatever needed. We never buy food because we grow what was needed,” she s

Lancaster’s memory remains sharp, she is able to recall details of her upbringing.