Mary Clem Celebrates 105 Years

“She wanted ribs, potato salad, baked beans and watermelon,” said Patti Matyas, owner of the Carriage House where Mary lives. “That’s what she got.”

Mary Louise lives in Show Low and filled in some of the details of her mother’s life.

Mary was born in San Francisco, Calif., in 1910, and her family moved around a lot.

Her father got a job in Yuma, so the family was off to Arizona in 1917, where her grandfather had earlier homesteaded 160 acres of land. Her father wanted to raise hogs, which didn’t turn out very well.

Mary learned to swim in a Yuma canal and remembers the Colorado River when it was wild, before there were any dams. They lived in the barracks for the first year while her father worked for the Bureau of Reclamation helping to build the first dam.

Mary remembers the Yuma Indians and how they put mud in their hair to keep cool.

They moved to the homestead and built a house, but when Mary was 9 years old, she decided to live with her maiden aunt Vannie in California. Aunt Vannie taught in a one-room schoolhouse and lived in a cabin on top of a mountain, and that’s where Clem spent the next five years, having what her daughter described as “a wonderful time.”

“They didn’t have much money, so they ate a lot of beans and walked everywhere” said Mary Louise. “I think that’s half the reason she’s lived so long.”

Kathy said her grandmother recalled the five-hour hike to get supplies. When Mary was 85, she and Kathy went back to visit, and they found the river where Mary once took the ferry.

When Mary was 15 or 16 years old, her aunt contracted tuberculosis and they had to move back to Yuma, where Aunt Vannie lived in a tent in the yard. It was difficult living in the Yuma desert with no air conditioning.

Mary started high school in Yuma when she was about 16. Her mother moved to San Diego, Calif., where Mary finished school at Point Loma High School.

After high school graduation she got a job at a title company, where she met her husband, David Stensurd. They eloped to Yuma.

In 1930, the Stensurds had a son they named David who was stillborn. Their daughter Mary Louise was born in 1946.

They lived in San Diego, then later to Bisbee, where they bought the Hubbard Mortuary. Mary ran the mortuary until they separated. They were divorced in 1969.

In her mid-40s, Mary went to Phoenix to live and worked for Justice of the Peace Charles F. Coppock, and “she made many of the decisions,” said Mary Louise. When Mary was approximately 50, her 85-year-old mother came to live with her and remained for 12 years.

At the age of 62 Mary retired. She lived in Payson for the next 25 years, where she got her real estate license when she was 65, but you couldn’t get a real estate license if you were 65, so she fudged on her age, saying she was 63.

She was a very successful Century 21 Realtor, partly because of her ability to tell her many stories, and she was trusted by all who knew her.

When she was 71 she met John Clem. Mary was struggling with a morale dilemma because she didn’t want to tell him she was two years older than she had said.

She did confess her small indiscretion and they eloped. They had a very happy marriage for 16 years. He passed away at the age of 90, when Mary was 87.

“Mom kind of fell to pieces after John died,” said Mary Louise, so a granddaughter came to live with her at a retirement home in Tucson and was there for two years.

During that time Mary Louise had married Dr. Eugene Strong. They lived in Mesa, as well as having a cabin in Pinetop. They retired in 1984 and went back and forth for years, with Mary visiting in the summer. Mary enjoyed the visits, and 14 years ago she came to live with her daughter in the White Mountains.

Due to her age and congestive heart failure, hospice came into the picture three years ago, Strong said, noting, “They are all amazed, just amazed,” referring to Mary’s health.

The family celebrated Mary’s 104th birthday at Charlie Clark’s, where the owner treated her to dinner and two Manhattans. They wanted to go back this year, but didn’t due to Mary’s health.

Until the past year Mary has been very independent, baking cakes, many with what Kathy called “her strawberry concoction.” Last year she baked Kathy’s birthday cake.

Mary has been a wonderful grandmother to her four grandchildren, taking them on trips all over. Kathy recalled that in the 1960s she took them in the summer to the Molly Butler Lodge, which was her favorite getaway place. They went horseback riding and camped at Yosemite. “She taught us to play poker in the rain,” said Kathy.

She took the grandkids to Sedona to Slide Rock before it was all built up. She taught them the names of trees, birds and flowers, and was a magnificent gardener. She had a beautiful rose garden while living in Payson.

Mary also loved to dance; winning many dance contests. Her hobby was China painting. “She was quite good,” said Mary Louise.

For her 105th birthday, Kathy hoped to give Mary papers for the Daughters of the American Revolution and for having family come to America on the Mayflower.

Though Mary can no longer see nor hear, she has lived quite a life, said Mary Louise, and she is still very interested in her investments.

Mary loves the Carriage House and the young people that work there. “They just treat her so beautifully there,” said Mary Louise.

“She’s an absolute joy,” said Patti.