Pearl Pinkham, of Newcastle, celebrated her 100th birthday on Valentine’s Day.
Pinkham remains active and independent, despite her age. She lives alone in her Newcastle apartment, her only assistance from a granddaughter who visits weekly to help her cook and clean. She greets visitors enthusiastically and accompanies them to the door when they leave.
Pinkham was born Feb. 14, 1912 in Kingfield, one of five children.
She fondly remembers winter activities with her siblings in the hills of western Maine. Her father was a finish carpenter from Massachusetts.
“My father made us skis out of barrels,” Pinkham said. “He made us a toboggan and skis and a sled.”
Pinkham’s mother was from Ireland and often worked as a cook at nearby sporting camps.
As a young woman, Pinkham and a younger sister came to Edgecomb to wait tables at Eagle Ridge, a club owned by local doctors.
“That’s where I met my husband,” Pinkham said. Albion Pinkham worked on a farm near Eagle Ridge. Pearl (not yet Pinkham) met him one day while taking a walk. The two talked and Pearl continued to see, flirt with, and eventually date Albion during her time at Eagle Ridge. “He used to take us for a ride every Saturday night around town,” she remembers.
The pair wed and moved to Sheepscot. “We were married for 60 years,” Pinkham said.
Albion and Pearl Pinkham had two daughters. Joyce Tuttle, their only surviving child, lives in Nobleboro.
Albion Pinkham was a fisherman for much of his working life and Pearl Pinkham worked as a nurse at Miles Memorial Hospital for many years.
She enjoyed going with her friends to Dyer’s Valley, a dancehall. “I love to dance,” she said. She also enjoyed playing cards – canasta, 63 and spades, mostly – sometimes until 2-3 a.m.
These days, Pinkham lives a slower life. She rocks in her rocking chair and enjoys listening to the audiobooks she borrows from the library and going for car rides with her granddaughter.
Longevity runs in Pinkham’s genes. Her brother died at the age of 100, and the sister she came to Lincoln County with – Ethel Hopp, now of Rockport – is 98. Besides the luck of the draw, Pinkham credits her health and vitality to always being active.
She had a rare taste of her former, wilder days Sunday, as more than 40 friends and relatives crowded into the apartment to celebrate her birthday.
