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100th birthday party for Doris Myers Canfield

by Patrick Misner

contributing reporter

Doris Myers Canfield celebrated her 100th birthday among family and friends this past Friday, Aug. 2 at Fountain View of Lowell. Canfield is originally from Lake Odessa, but she has lived in Lowell for many decades and considers it her home.

She owned a hair salon in town that was located across from Ball's Ice Cream, and worked there as a stylist. There, she met many life-long friends, including some that made it to the birthday celebration. Canfield lived on her own in her son Tony Myers' home until she was almost 90 years old.

"I lived in Tennessee, she lived at my house, and she lived by herself," Myers explained. "And I moved back up when she was 89, something like that. I figured when she was going to be 90 it was time to come back home."

Canfield continued to live with her son until only a few weeks ago, when a short bout in the hospital made it so that she required the care provided by an assisted living facility. The party that was scheduled to be at the Moose Lodge was eventually rescheduled to Fountain View. 

There were many cards and balloons for Canfield. Also, one of her relatives had nominated her for the Today Show's Smucker's 100th birthday recognition, so her cake had her picture on a Smucker's jar on it. There were not 100 candles, but the cake did have many candles that Canfield blew out. She was particularly excited to see one of her granddaughters, a paraplegic, who was able to make it to the party.

Canfield talked about her time working at her beauty shop. She didn't have any secrets about her longevity, but her son credited her hard work ethic that she maintained her entire life. He also mentioned, she enjoyed having a couple beers each day and drank green tea regularly. 

When asked how it feels to be 100, Canfield, with a laugh, responded, "I don't feel any different than I did; my leg hurts just as bad! Everybody's so wonderful, that's the part that I like."

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