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By Daniel Curtin
Hometown Weekly Reporter
At Walpole Senior Center, friends and family of Hope Keyes gathered together to wish the Walpole native a happy 100th birthday last Monday.
When Hope was born back on June 11, 1918, World War One was still raging in Europe, prohibition wouldn’t start for nearly two years, and King Tut’s tomb would not be discovered for another four years. Hope’s life has spanned many incredible events over the 20th and 21st century.
Though Hope never married or had children of her own, her niece, Cindy Mutter, made the long ride up from Delaware to be with her aunt on her big day.
“It’s special,” Mutter said. “I keep in contact with her all the time. So I call her all the time.” She later added that Hope was particularly helpful in answering questions about family history. “If you need to know something you call her and she remembers it.”
At the party, Hope mentioned that when she was younger, she remembered thinking that she thought wasn’t going to live that long.
“Well, my mother, I used to [tell her] I wasn’t going to live long. She used to say ‘What makes you think so?’ and I said my father didn’t. She said ‘His mother is still alive,’ and she lived to be 102.” Keyes said.
Maureen Stott, who has been a friend of Hope’s for about 10 years, met Hope through a Bible study. Hope, being unable to drive herself, would get a lift with Stott. Stott talked about how even though Hope has had some health problems in recent years, she is still very sharp and mentally attentive.
“She’s very much of a keen mind - I can always ask for her things. She remembers everything, which is really nice.” Stott said.
Hope recently had to move out of her home on Grover Street, where she has lived for 61, years due to her failing eyesight. She now stays at the Thomas Upham House in Medfield. When Stott was helping Hope move out, she found many priceless mementos and keepsakes that Keyes had acquired throughout her life.
These items were put on a display for guests at the party to see and included baby pictures, pictures from her graduation from Foxboro High School (class of 1938), her nursing certificate, pictures of her beloved pets, and her yearbooks.
Hope spent many years of her life working as a nurse at the Massachusetts Osteopathic Hospital in Boston. She has continued to remain active, and even voted in the 2016 presidential election.
Some of Hope’s favorite things to do in her spare time when she was younger included reading, traveling to Vermont, photography, dollhouse miniatures, needlework, and going to Bible study.
Indeed, many of Hope’s friends and family attribute her getting her through the many obstacles she has had to face over the course of her life to her strong faith.
