By J.T. Stone
SUNY Albany
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Paula Griffith is still living her life to the fullest.
She spends her time playing the piano and listening to music, watching New York Yankees games while enjoying tomato basil soup and reminiscing over joyous memories with her family when they often come to visit.
Griffith has been living independently at The Wesley Community, a senior-living facility in Saratoga Springs, for the last 13 years and celebrated her 111th birthday last month.
“How do I feel about being 111? Not much different than 110,” she said.
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Griffith is a supercentenarian, a person who is 110 or older, making her one of about 50 people in the United States to reach that milestone — and among more than 200 people worldwide to do so — according to the Gerontology Research Group, a global institution that verifies and records the world’s oldest people.
“Paula’s our famous resident,” said Candace Lain, director of The Wesley Community’s Embury Apartments, where Griffith lives. “She’s the rock star here.”
Early love for music
Paula Doris Hamilton was born on July 29, 1914, in South Glens Falls, a small Saratoga County village that, at the time, had a population of around 2,247 people, according to 1910 census data.
Her mother, Anna, was a skilled seamstress, and her father, Frank, ran a diner in the area that sold homemade donuts and pies, which Paula said she enjoyed visiting growing up because a handsome state trooper frequented the establishment. She also had two brothers who affectionately spoiled her, she said.
Paula loved music from a young age and she began taking piano lessons when she was 7 years old. She was a member of her local theatre company and performed at the historic Ulysses S. Grant Cottage in Saratoga County before graduating from high school as the valedictorian of her class.
Growing up during the deadly Spanish flu outbreak of the late 1910s, Paula has lived through two global pandemics, two world wars, the terms of more than 20 U.S. presidents, the Great Depression, the 1969 moon landing, and, most recently, last year’s total solar eclipse, which she was able to enjoy outdoors.
One childhood memory she holds onto is when her neighbor, who served in World War I, threw her in the air at church to celebrate the end of the war in November 1918.
“The church bells were ringing, and I asked my mother what all the noise was and she said, ‘The war is over.’ My neighbor came back from the war, so he was glad, but I was a little girl, so I didn’t know what was going on.”
Paula went on to graduate from Fredonia College in 1931 with degrees in teaching and music before marrying her husband, Watcyn, whom she said she met on a blind date. The couple eventually moved to Cambridge, a small town in Washington County, where Paula taught piano and volunteered as a choir leader and organist at the Cambridge Baptist Church for several decades.
“I loved it. I loved playing the organ and I got to go to church every week,” she said, noting that religion has always been an important part of her life. “I was a Baptist and always went to church. I can’t go now, but I watch (services) on TV.”
War and grief
Watcyn was drafted in World War II and joined the Allied forces’ occupation of Japan at the end of the war.
Paula and her 4-year-old son, Vance, went to live with her parents until Watcyn returned home, which she described as a difficult and scary time for her family. After the war, the couple had a daughter whom they named Nancy.
Watcyn died in 1973 following a stroke and lung surgery complications. Vance died in 2023 at the age of 82 from blood cancer. Paula said grieving her husband and son were the hardest experiences of her life and that she still thinks about them every day. She honors them by reading Psalms and has pictures of them on her bedstand and piano.
In her early 50s, Paula made a career change, working as a pathologist’s office assistant at the now-closed Mary McClellan Hospital to support herself after her husband’s death. She never remarried.
“The girls where I worked wanted me to cruise and meet a lot of guys, but I said, ‘I don’t want to meet lots of guys,’” she said. “One (husband) was enough.”
After retiring in the mid-1980s, Paula moved to Saratoga Springs to be closer to family.
“Paula is one of the smartest ladies I’ve ever met,” said her daughter-in-law, Norine. “When she had more ability to get around, she was a lot of fun and she still loves to joke around.”
Chris, one of Paula’s grandsons, who got his first car in high school from her, said his grandmother’s sense of humor has always been infectious.
“My grandmother has always had a very modern sense of humor,” Chris said. “One time we were watching a Yankees game and David Wells was pitching and he kept adjusting himself, if you know what I mean, and my grandma goes, ‘God, what is wrong with him. He better go get himself checked out.’”
Secret to a long life
The Wesley Community held a celebration for Paula’s birthday last month, where the supercentenarian was greeted with cheers and applause.
“I didn’t think it was anything great and I didn’t know why they were applauding,” she said. “It’s just a birthday.”
But her family and public officials disagreed. In 2023, former Saratoga Springs Mayor Ron Kim signed a proclamation declaring July 29 “Paula Griffith Day” in honor of her 109th birthday.
Last year, Paula said she received a card from then-President Joe Biden wishing her a happy 110th birthday.
“Paula is a truly remarkable person and an inspiration to our residents and staff,” said The Wesley Community’s CEO J. Brian Nealon. “Her vibrant personality lights up the room, and it’s a pleasure to ring in this milestone birthday with her and her family.”
Paula said her life’s proudest accomplishment is shaping her “beautiful” family, which now includes eight grandchildren, about 25 great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren.
“It’s a blessing to still have her in our lives,” Chris said. “She has some aides that come in and help her, but they’re not 24/7, so she still amazingly has some degree of independence.”
Her family and caretakers said she is in great physical and cognitive condition for her age and that she has a regimen of arm and leg exercises, which she completes in bed every morning. She also contracted COVID-19 a few years ago, but said it “didn’t make any difference to me.”
“She looks better than some of the 80-year-olds that are around,” said Lain.
Paula said she’s led a healthy life by refraining from smoking and drinking alcohol, but when asked what her secret to a long life is, she said, “I tell everybody that if I tell them, it won’t be a secret anymore.”
J.T. Stone is a summer news intern working with the Times Union through the SUNY Institute for Local News. Originally from Ithaca, J.T. is a 2025 graduate of the University at Albany where he studied journalism. He has covered topics ranging from arts and entertainment to Capital Region city development and government for publications including the Irish magazine Hot Press, WCNY’s The Capitol Pressroom, Spotlight News and WAMC Northeast Public Radio. You can reach him at joshua.stone@timesunion.com.
