As life marches onwards this meaningful Easter holiday, family members and friends of Marian Yancin celebrated her 100th year of life on Saturday.
Marian Yancin, commonly known as Carmen Matthews by her friends and family members, took her first breath in this life on this day in 1922. On Saturday, a day before Easter, Marian celebrated her 100th birthday, becoming the first in her family to do so.
The woman has outlived all three of her children, who all passed on before even turning two. She explained that her firstborns were twins, both boys, who died; and her next child, also a boy, passed away while he was one year old.
New centenarian Marian Yancin
The woman never conceived another child. In her youth, however, she looked and cared for her niece like she was her daughter. This niece is currently residing overseas.
Yancin, who resides at Thomas Street, Kitty, Georgetown, originally grew up in Skeldon, Berbice, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne). She eventually moved to Georgetown during her youth. She was married twice in her lifetime, but also outlived both of her husbands.
The woman, in an interview with Guyana Times, recalled the names of the friends with whom she had grown up, still remembering most of their names at the age of 100. Her hearing is slightly defective, but otherwise she is still healthy and strong.
During the interview, Yancin’s niece, Gwendolyn Huston, was the one who relayed the questions asked by the reporter to her. Yancin, being witty, cracked a few jokes, sparking laughter in the room, providing that she is capable of enjoying life at her age.
The centenarian was a rice planter and a farmer. She is described as being kind, and one who would advocate for what she believes in. Hutson, her niece, explained that the woman was caring and loving to the people she met, but she was also stern, not sticking “nonsense from man or woman.”
The woman, in her young days, planted and reaped her own crops as a way to make a living for her family.
Diagnosed with only arthritis, the new centenarian is in a healthy state, with frequent medical checkups to detect any underlying illness that might threaten her life.
The woman’s niece explained that Yancin is the first in their family to live to see 100 years on earth, while adding that she has outlived four of her seven siblings. Marian’s father and mother, Thomas and Sarah France, died at the ages of 96 and 94 respectively.
