Centenarian Mary Harris has super faith

Alexian Village resident is oldest in state and second oldest in United States

By Bill Brewer

Mary Harris stands out at Alexian Village, where she is a popular resident with many well-wishers at the Signal Mountain retirement community.

You could even say she stands out in Tennessee, the United States, and the world.

You see, Mrs. Harris is a supercentenarian, which is a rare achievement to be celebrated anywhere, including in the Diocese of Knoxville.

She was born on May 13, 1911, and celebrated her 114th birthday last month.

Mrs. Harris is the oldest known living person in Tennessee; she is the second oldest known living person in the United States; and, according to the Gerontology Research Group, she is the eighth oldest living person in the world.

The Gerontology Research Group is a non-profit global scientific institution that verifies and records human longevity. The research organization is considered a foremost authority on the world’s oldest humans.

And to illustrate the significance of her age and lifetime, Pope Francis issued to her papal recognition in 2021 commemorating her 110th birthday.

A lot in a lifetime

To put Mrs. Harris’ lifetime in perspective:

• The year she was born, the word radio was first used to describe wireless broadcast transmissions.
• She was 11 months old when the Titanic passenger ship sank in the North Atlantic Ocean in 1912.
• She was 1 year old when Woodrow Wilson was inaugurated as the 28th U.S. president in 1913.
• She was 2 years old when the Ford Motor Co. introduced the first moving assembly line to manufacture the Model T automobile in 1913.
• She was 3 years old when Benedict XV became pope in 1914.
• She was 3 years old when World War I began in 1914.
• She wasn’t yet 4 years old when the first long-distance telephone service between New York and San Francisco was demonstrated in 1915.
• She was 10 years old when Pius XI became pope in 1922.
• She was 14 years old when the Grand Ole Opry began in Nashville in 1925.
• She was 16 years old when Charles Lindbergh made his first solo, nonstop, transatlantic airplane flight in 1927.
• She was 17 years old when bubble gum was invented in 1928.
• She was 18 years old when the Great Depression began in 1929.
• She was 25 years old when the Hindenburg crashed in New Jersey in 1937.
• She was 26 years old when J.R.R. Tolkien published the book “The Hobbit” and Disney released “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” the first feature-length animated movie, in 1937.
• She was 27 years old when Pius XII became pope in 1939.
• She was 28 years old when World War II began in 1939.
• She was 31 years old when the Manhattan Project began in 1942 to make the atomic bomb.
• She was 45 years old when Elvis Presley first appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1956.
• She was 51 years old when the Second Vatican Council convened in 1962.
• She was 52 years old when the Beatles first appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964.
• She was 58 years old when astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first person to step on the moon in 1969.
• She was 67 years old when St. John Paul II became pope in 1978.
• She was 71 years old when Knoxville hosted the 1982 World’s Fair.
• She was 90 years old on Sept. 11, 2001.
• And she was 113 years old in 2025 when Pope Leo XIV became the first pope from the United States.

Mrs. Harris celebrated her birthday with a party at Alexian Village that included her daughter and son-in-law Connie and Rudolph Pitcher of Huntsville, Ala.

Mrs. Pitcher said her mother was the second youngest of 21 children to the same parents. There were 19 boys and two girls, and Mrs. Harris is the surviving sibling.

“She’s a remarkable lady. She’s a wonderful woman, a great mother, and a great wife,” Mrs. Pitcher said about her mother.

Mrs. Pitcher, who is 86, and her sister, Dixie Billingsley, 80, who lives near Atlanta, are the two children of Mary and James Richard Harris.

Mrs. Pitcher described her parents as the consummate couple, who loved and complemented each other, and worked hard to build a family business together.

“She has worked hard all of her life,” Mrs. Pitcher said. “She’s wonderful. She really is.”

Mrs. Pitcher credits her mother with encouraging her marriage to Mr. Pitcher. They have been married for 60 years. And Mr. Pitcher is a big fan of his mother-in-law.

He is wowed by what she has accomplished in her lifetime, from helping run the family businesses to being a master seamstress, an artisan, and a piano player.

“She has been a very skilled lady,” said Mr. Pitcher, who also has been enamored with her cooking skills.

Mrs. Harris’ specialty was making Italian dishes, but she also would prepare with love what her husband would bring home after hunting and fishing trips.

Mrs. Pitcher speaks with pride about her mother’s five grandchildren, more than a dozen great-grandchildren, and a great-great-grandchild that is due this summer.

They’re a legacy to the supercentenarian, her husband, and her parents, who migrated from Europe.

A very special visit

Bishop Mark Beckman met with Mrs. Harris on March 27 as he visited Alexian Village. Joining Bishop Beckman on the visit was Father Adam Kane, who serves as the chaplain for the Hamilton County retirement community.

As he sat with Mrs. Harris in her apartment, Bishop Beckman said, “I’ve been hearing about you,” which prompted her to reply with surprise, “You have?”

When the bishop asked her about her upcoming birthday, she told him that she would be turning 114 in May. She then shared with him some of her family history.

Mrs. Harris was born in Ithaca, N.Y., on May 13, 1911, to Italian immigrants Joseph and Concetta (Delmonte) Petrillose. She married James Richard Harris from North Lexington, N.C., in August 1937. During their 66 years of marriage, they ran a dry-cleaning business and a dairy farm in New York.

Mr. and Mrs. Harris later retired to Florida, where they resided for several decades before moving to Chattanooga. The couple later moved to Alexian Village in 2000. Her husband died in September 2003 at age 90.

She is a faithful Catholic who receives Communion daily through the assistance of priests, deacons, or extraordinary ministers and has an active prayer life.

Mrs. Harris let Bishop Beckman know that she likes living at Alexian Village and enjoys the community’s accommodations and its people.

“Everyone is so kind to me,” she told the bishop.

When he observed that it is warmer in East Tennessee than it is in New York, she said, “Thank goodness,” which drew laughs from her visitors.

She spoke fondly about the visits she receives from her two daughters and their families.

And when Bishop Beckman kiddingly suggested that her daughters place 114 candles on her birthday cake, she laughed, saying, “Oh, it would burn the place up!”

Bishop Beckman asked her where her family originated, and she proudly explained that her father was from northern Italy and her mother was from southern Italy. She showed him a picture of her and six brothers when they were much younger. She laments that they all have passed away.

The bishop then told her that his mother’s family was from Italy, too. They compared their personal experiences of Italy, including their shared love of making ravioli from scratch.

Mrs. Harris was especially proud to show Bishop Beckman the porcelain figurines and plates she created and had on display in her apartment.

“That is remarkable,” Bishop Beckman told her. “You are an artist.”

“Well, I was,” she replied. “I don’t do it anymore. I enjoyed it, though. I used to teach it.”

“Your entire room is full of your art. I love that,” the bishop remarked. “Just look at the beauty of it. The flowers look so real.”

“I liked it. But I don’t do it anymore. I’m too old,” she said, sharing that her daughters tried to follow in her artistic footsteps.

“You have to have patience,” she explained.

As he was leaving, Bishop Beckman gave Mrs. Harris a blessing:

“Mary, may the Lord watch over you and give you His gracious and abundant blessings as you prepare to celebrate your birthday in May. May He watch over you always. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

She then responded with an emphatic “Amen!”

He then asked her to say a prayer for him, and she told him she would.

“Thank you for coming. Come and see me again,” she said as he was leaving.

A lifetime of memories

Following Bishop Beckman’s departure, Mrs. Harris was asked if there is one prayer that she considered her favorite.

“I don’t have a favorite prayer, but I pray all the time,” she shared.

Her Alexian Village apartment is decorated with her artwork and pictures of her family, from her parents and siblings to her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Her eyes light up when she points them out by name.

Kristy Baggett, Mrs. Harris’ caretaker, reminded Mrs. Harris that the supercentenarian’s daughter, Mrs. Pitcher, celebrated her 86th birthday in March, and her youngest daughter, Dixie, celebrated her 80th birthday in December.

Mrs. Harris recalled with continued amazement that when her father arrived in the United States from Italy, he had planned to locate in Utica, N.Y. However, his broken English made his pronunciation of Utica sound like Ithaca, so he was directed to Ithaca, which is where he settled.

She has visited Italy and saw the church where her father attended as a child.

When asked what her secret to a long, healthy life is, she responded, “I wish I knew.”

And when it was suggested that good, clean living might be responsible, she said laughing, “I don’t know about that! But I was a pretty good girl. I take care of myself.”

“Sometimes people will say, ‘What is He (God) keeping you here for?’ And I say, ‘I don’t know. But He knows what He wants,’” she reasoned.

Mrs. Harris spoke repeatedly and lovingly of her husband and their more than six decades of marriage. She recalled that they met at her father’s dry-cleaning business. Her husband also was in the dry-cleaning business at the time.

“My husband was very good to me. Very good,” she was happy to say.

As she summoned her memories, she noted that her family had a restaurant in Ithaca, which was operated by her brothers.

Ms. Baggett was glad to assist with the recollections. She has been Mrs. Harris’ caretaker for two years.

“Mary is absolutely amazing. She has taught me so much about history. She has talked to me about presidents that she was interested in, the pandemics she lived through, and what she went through as a child,” Ms. Baggett said.

In addition to the COVID-19 pandemic, Mrs. Harris has witnessed influenza outbreaks, yellow fever, tuberculosis, smallpox, and polio.

“She has accumulated a lot of knowledge. We even talked about how she was 1 year old when the Titanic went down,” Ms. Baggett said. “She is great. She is wonderful to work for.”

Among the presidents Mrs. Harris remembers are Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Harry Truman, and John F. Kennedy, who was the first Catholic to serve as the nation’s Commander-in-Chief.

Mrs. Harris is very fond of Alexian Village and the people who staff the Signal Mountain retirement community. And the feeling is mutual.

One of those supporters is Melissa Rief, executive director of Ascension Living-Alexian Village Tennessee.

“Mary Harris is a longtime resident who still does a lot of things. She is very involved. We are grateful to have her here at Alexian Village. She does still go out. She goes to the grocery store and buys things. Recently, she was at one of our spirit sales,” Ms. Rief said, explaining that a spirit sale occurs when a resident leaves or transitions to a different level of care, they often leave behind some of their items in their apartment to sell.

Ms. Rief said Mrs. Harris’ distinction is unmistakable.

“Everybody knows her. And I think it’s because everybody is trying to figure out what her secret is,” the executive director said.

When asked if she knows what that secret to longevity is, Ms. Rief said, “I don’t. I wish that I did, but I don’t. I don’t think she has a secret. She’s just extraordinary. For me, I often think about aging. Today (March 27) is my birthday, and so I think about aging, and if I live to be 114, I hope I am like Mary.”

It didn’t take Alexian Village resident Veronica Nacchio long to get to know who Mary Harris was a dozen years ago when Ms. Nacchio first moved there.

Ms. Nacchio, who takes an active role in community activities, said at that time 12 years ago Mrs. Harris had recently passed 100 years of age.

“We used to talk about her paintings. At that time, she was going out at least once a week with her kids or her grandkids because she liked to go out to lunch. And now, as I have just found out, she still insists on going to Walmart at least once a week with her caretaker. She uses a mobile scooter, and she goes on the Alexian bus. I can’t believe it,” Ms. Nacchio said.

Although Mrs. Harris has attracted attention because of her life span, Ms. Nacchio said there is no air of renown about her neighbor and friend.

“She’s normal. There is no celebrity at all. She’s just one of the crowd. She’ll sit down to eat with anybody. But everybody knows her,” Ms. Nacchio said.

Ms. Nacchio relishes her residency in Signal Mountain, and she serves as a kind of volunteer cruise director on the ship that is Alexian Village.

“I just live here, and I like to talk to people. And I love this place. And I like to show it off,” said Ms. Nacchio, who has been a widow for 20 years and formerly lived in Knoxville.

Ms. Rief said the retirement community has nearly 600 residents spread out in independent living, assisted living, memory care, and skilled nursing.

“We have all levels of care, which is what makes living here so nice. You can move here as an independent individual and live in the independent-living apartments. As you begin to need more assistance, then you can transition into assisted living, or maybe you need memory care,” Ms. Rief said.

“Or if you need a higher level of care, we have skilled nursing. We also have rehabilitation, where people can come here for a short stay if, say, they have a total hip replacement and they need to come here for a few weeks to recover. We also have outpatient therapy. We have our own live-at-home program and home-care program, which helps people stay in their own home and maybe not live here on campus. As they begin to need care in their own home, we can provide that care as well,” she explained.

Ms. Rief said Alexian Village is glad to be a destination for residents in the Diocese of Knoxville who are looking for a full-service retirement community.

She pointed out that Alexian Village welcomes all individuals regardless of faith practice, but she noted that Alexian Village has a strong Catholic community and a priest who ministers to the Catholic residents and celebrates Mass in the retirement community’s chapel.

“A lot of people choose to live here because of that,” she said.