Mary Gladys (Snider) Postell on her 102nd birthday
Photo provided by Nancy Gilmore
Mary Gladys (Snider) Postell celebrated her 102nd birthday last month at the Lafayette Care Center. She was born in Lenoir City, Tennessee, on September 19th, 1907.
Postell moved to Cleveland, Ohio with her family, when she was 11, and then to Orlando, Florida. She settled in California in during the Depression, living in southern California for 70 years.
As a teenager, one of her greatest pleasures was gymnastics. Later, in Florida, she was involved in dance and theater. After moving to California, she worked as a switchboard operator and supervisor at the telephone company in Van Nuys. She was on duty the day Pearl Harbor was attacked and often told the story about the switchboard suddenly lighting up and everyone knowing that something important must have happened.
She married Archie Postell during the war in 1943, and they started their own business designing and manufacturing office supplies. They built their home, in Granada Hills, CA, themselves.
They moved to Ventura, CA, after retirement. Postell enjoyed craftwork, and volunteered at the Senior Craft Shop in Ventura, where she sold many of the items she had made. Archie died in 1985; they were married for 41 years. They didn't have any children, but Postell has many nieces and nephews.
Postell moved to the Bay Area in 2003; she lived independently at Orinda Senior Village until shortly before her 100th birthday, when she moved to Lafayette Care Center.
Postell moved to Cleveland, Ohio with her family, when she was 11, and then to Orlando, Florida. She settled in California in during the Depression, living in southern California for 70 years. 
Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA