Martin was born on March 2, 1923 in Malone, but her mother moved her to Saranac Lake when she was a baby, so she grew up here. Martin said she loved childhood in Saranac Lake.

“We played out. We didn’t stay in. And we didn’t have any machines, don’t forget,” she said, referring to the cell phones people seem to always have in hand. “We had to think everything up.

“Very, very nice. It wish it were back the way it was,” Martin said. “It’s changed so much.”

She wasn’t an “outdoor person” who went on long hikes, but she loved ice skating at the high school and swimming at the Lake Flower beach. She misses that beach.

Irene Martin celebrated her 101st birthday this weekend. (Provided photo — David Martin)

She lived on Woodruff Street, around where the car wash is now, with five sisters and one brother.

Martin lived right next to the train tracks through much of her youth on Woodruff and Margaret streets, during the years when trains were the main method of transportation in and out of town. She said the noise of the train cars didn’t bother them at all.

There were very few automobiles in town at the time, Martin said. Cars were “just for the wealthy people.”

Martin grew up in the time when tuberculosis was bringing hundreds of people ill with the disease to Saranac Lake. The town was “buzzing,” she said, but there was also a lot of death in the air.

She recalls that the ramp built on on the First United Methodist Church of Saranac Lake across the street from her apartment was installed to bring caskets into the church because there were so many funerals at that time for TB patients.

“They were dying faster than they were coming into Saranac Lake,” she said.

Friday and Saturday nights were busy downtown. She remembers coming into town and going to the stores. Leonard’s Department Store on Main Street was her favorite, with three floors of clothing and household furnishings.

On Sunday, her family came from all over to celebrate. Grandchildren traveled from Albany and Plattsburgh for the occasion. It was a smallish family gathering. Last year, for her centennial birthday party, they had a blow-out with a large group of friends and family.

She said she never thought she’d live this long. It has been tough at times. Everyone she grew up with has been gone for so long, she said. But she has family in the area.

Her son, David, also lives in the Dechantal Apartments building, above her. She said he visits every day, and every night before he goes to bed, he comes down to her apartment and says goodnight.

Martin’s not really sure what has allowed her to have such a long life and keep living independently. It doesn’t seem possible, she said.

“I never smoked and I never drank,” she guessed. “I’m sure that that has a lot to do with it.”

Martin married the love of her life, Emery, in 1943. She said they kept the secret to a long marriage: “Keep your mouth shut.”

“We never fought,” she said. “He would know I was angry because I would start slamming cupboards. … That’s as far as it went.

“My son once said ‘I’m going next door where they fight. I want some excitement,'” she added with a laugh.

Martin said she loved Emery and he loved her. She said she would never marry again. After Emery died in 1999, she’s been single ever since.

Together, they had three sons, all five years apart.

“They were very good. We had a good life,” Martin said.

Martin’s granddaughter, Lynn Gilbert Higman, said she’s proud of her grandmother’s passion to live life fully and independently.

“Everybody’s so impressed,” she said.

Martin had some advice for people younger than her: “Raise hell.”

Today, Martin said she has many hobbies. She crochets and knits baby sweaters for churches and does needlework.

“I even know how to pierce ears,” Martin said.

She did that at the Saranac Lake jewelry store where she worked for many years. She also babysat for a long time.

She loves listening to Elvis Presley.

“His ballads, not his screeching and hollering,” she said.

His echoing voice is best on the songs he wrote for his mother, she said, like “My Happiness.”

She loves board games, especially word guessing games. But there’s another game she has her eyes set on.

“I’ll tell you what. If I live to be 102, I am going to the casino,” Martin said.