Known to five generations of family members as their sharp-witted
matriarch, Lauretta May Conley celebrated 100 years of life this
weekend. Lauretta May Calkins was born March 3, 1904, in Greenville,
Mich. She moved to Glendale in 1936 with her second husband, Hollet
Conley, and their daughter, Barbara. More than 50 family members and
friends attended a birthday party for Conley at St. Mark's Episcopal
Church Saturday afternoon. When asked what the secret was to living
to be 100 years old, Conley said, "Just keep busy working and mind
your own business." Family and friends who attended Saturday's
celebration looked at old photos of Conley, wrote personal notes to
Conley in a guest book and spoke fondly of her homemade apple pie,
green beans, bacon-and- potatoes dinner and her homemade carrot
juice. Conley's granddaughter, Sandy McKee, called Conley a woman of
determination. "She's been my world," McKee said. "When she had to do
something, she has always done it." Conley and her husband purchased
a home at 806 W. Doran St. in 1936 for $3,500, but were uprooted
during the building of the Ventura (134) Freeway through Glendale and
moved into a home on West Colorado Boulevard, family members said.
