Mary Lou Jennings could be considered the oldest lifelong resident of Lansdowne, writes Peg DeGrassa for the Daily Times.
She turned 96 on May 5.
“My mom has lived in Lansdowne her entire life,” son Robert Jennings said. “She loves this town!”
Jennings had 11 children, nine boys and two girls, all born at Fitzgerald Mercy Hospital in Darby.
She lost one son to a brain tumor in the 1960s, but the other 100 went on to successful lives, her son said.
Jennings never took her Lansdowne roots for granted. She was a Girl Scout troop leader from the 1960s until 2005. She’s also a longtime board member of the Lansdowne Tree Commission.
Those duties have her overseeing the process of getting trees for the borough, meeting with residents to plant the trees on their properties, and coordinating with the borough to plant street and park trees.
Jennings has planted trees up and down Lansdowne Avenue and on Baltimore Pike down through East Lansdowne to the Philadelphia border.
She’s also served as the grand marshal for the Lansdowne Fourth of July Parade and has been a 60-year member of St. Philomena’s Catholic Church in Lansdowne.
Read more about Mary Lou Jennings and her Lansdowne roots in the Daily Times.
This Philadelphia Inquirer promotional video of Lansdowne Borough was shot six years ago.
