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Happy 100th birthday, Mollie
At her 100th birthday party May 26, Mollie Somerville, once a researcher and assistant to former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt, acted like the stereotypical mother. She talked only about her children's and grandchildren's accomplishments.Family and friends attended Saturday's party at Sommerset Retirement Community in Sterling, where Somerville has lived for a year. Guests enjoyed chocolate cake, cheesecake, and punch while listening to tunes played by Somerville's grandson Alex, a reggae musician, and son-in-law Bill Bickham.
Somerville's actual birthday, May 25, was celebrated Friday with a quiet family dinner in Great Falls. Family came from both coasts. Her son, Richard Somerville, his wife, Sylvia Bal Somerville, and their two sons, Anatol and Alex, flew in from the West Coast while Somerville's daughter and son-in-law, Ann Somerville and Bill Bickham, drove from McLean.
“We have a really tiny family, and she is the last of our grandparents,” Anatol said. “We don't get together a lot, but if it is something for her, we all come together.”
Her children speak of Somerville as a great mother, who was “supportive,” “dynamic” and “steeped in tradition."
Somerville was born in New York City in 1907. She lived in the Catskill Mountains where her family ran a summer hotel business. She graduated from high school in 1925. She took courses at Columbia University and the City College of New York while working as an assistant to a psychiatrist and then for an architect, Charles Wilkins Short.
The Great Depression hit and Somerville was let go, but not before Short introduced her to Curtis and Anna Roosevelt Dall in 1929. Somerville was offered a position that led to working at the Democratic National Headquarters.
After Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected president in 1932, Somerville moved to Washington with the Roosevelt family and worked in the White House as a researcher and assistant to Eleanor Roosevelt.
“She was a marvelous person to work with,” said Somerville of Roosevelt. “It was quite an honor.”
At Saturday's party some of Somerville's fans spoke highly of her. “You're a celebrity,” Claudine Wilson said as she handed Somerville a birthday card.
After working with Roosevelt for eight years, Somerville wrote two books: “Washington Walked Here” and “Eleanor Roosevelt/As I Knew Her.” She gave a lecture at Sommerset about her life. Many residents purchased her books and had them signed.
“She is marvelous for her age,” resident Frieda Morrison said. “When she gave her lecture, it was the biggest crowd that ever came to listen to someone.”
Somerville blew out her birthday candles and made a wish, “Peace on Earth.”
On Friday night the family toasted to the next 20 years. When asked the secret to living 100 years, she said, “Never smoke and lead a sedate life.”
Contact the reporter at lwolstenholme@timespapers.com
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