Happy 100th Birthday To Pottstown's Florence Schumacher!

To mark Florence Yeager Schumacher's 100th birthday there were parties all weekend, of course, followed by a celebration on Monday at the Fredrick Mennonite Home where she goes for adult daycare during the week.

"Or as she calls it, 'school,'" said Schumacher's granddaughter Amy Bathurst Francis via email.

"It was great," Francis said of the most recent party. "She really enjoyed it."

Schumacher's family includes:

• children Jo Ann Bathurst and Lee Schumacher

• grandchildren Tim Bathurst, Amy Bathurst Francis and Kara (Schumacher) Olson

• great-grandchildren Rachel Bathurst, David Bathurst, Sam Bathurst, Chloe Francis and Gabriel Francis

"She was born in 1912 and raised in Reading, PA, moving to South Street in Pottstown when my grandfather became employed by Firestone in 1949," Amy Bathurst Francis said. "She was married to Edward Schumacher, Jr -- 'not the funeral director,' as he would say -- for 64 years until, very sadly, he died of Parkinson's Disease at 86."

Florence Yeager Schumacher lived on South Street until seven years ago "when she and my parents purchased the Victorian next to ours on Chestnut Street in the Old Pottstown Historic District, where she still lives today," Amy Bathurst Francis said. 

The birthday lady worked as a secretary and in bookkeeping until she had children, when she became the "housewife extraordinaire," Amy Bathurst Francis said.

"Seriously, from a grandchild's perspective, she was amazing at bringing joy into their home and making it a harmonious sanctuary," Amy Bathurst Francis said. "If there was a pattern for the quintessential grandmother, it would be cut from the original pattern of my my grandmother."

Florence Yeager Schumacher is "far too gracious to take any credit for her longevity," Amy Bathurst Francis said. "She would say (credit goes to) her loving family, friends, church family and by the grace of her God.

"However, if I were to take a stab at it I would say the credit should be given also to her very loving, kind, appreciative and positive disposition in life," Amy Bathurst Francis said. "Many, many people would long to have her as their grandmother and I'm blessed enough to call her mine."