HAPPY 102 AGNES

Agnes (Beard) Hughes was born on June 16, 1904 in her grandfather’s house in Plymouth, Indiana. The attending physician told her mother that Agnes would not live long as she was very small and had an enlarged heart. Agnes has been proving that doctor wrong for 102 years.

Agnes family moved to Fort Wayne when she was fourteen and other than a few years in Florida, she has been here ever since.

She married her husband Walter, when she was 18 and together they had a baby girl. During the depression, Walter worked for the YMCA, and in his off-hours, he set up a free gym so local kids could participate in boxing and wrestling. Walter then worked for International Harvester before passing away in 1926. Agnes became a single mother, with a fourteen year-old daughter, Barbara.

She worked at the Grand Leader Store at the corner of Wayne and Calhoun for $12 per week. She later took a job at a local coal company and earned $50 per week, as an office manager and bookkeeper.

Agnes remarried in 1945 and became involved in the sale of engineering and art supplies. She worked out of her house on Bradbury Avenue and later took a job at Lincoln Reproductions, which eventually became Lincoln Graphics. Agnes retired in 1966 and later gave up driving at the age of 95 due to back problems.

I asked Agnes about any especially fond memories. She said, “When I was young, I wanted to play piano. My sister and I hired a teacher by the name of Mrs. Rowe, and she attempted to teach us. I took lessons for about a year before Mrs. Rowe finally told me that I had no aptitude for it. Although I never mastered the piano, it was one of the most fun times of my life.”

When I asked her to what she attributed her longevity, she said, “Don’t listen to doctors, they don’t know beans even with the bag open.” When she was asked about the biggest changes in society over the years she said, “There is so much violence everywhere and everyone seems to be hurrying to get another rung up on the ladder instead of finding things they like to do.”

Agnes has 2 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren.

She has moved to HaborSide Nursing Home in New Haven, after residing at Bridgedale Apartments for 19 years.

Her sister Olive Sampson (97) and her brother James Beard (84) are alive.

Dave Wilkins, her hairdresser and friend for the past 39 years brought Agnes to The Stand for a coney dog, an ice cream cone and a cupcake.