Mary Cantway’s first job was with Swift and Company at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1933, her daughter Linda Cantway-Cook said.
Cantway, who her daughter said was one of the 20 oldest people in the country, died June 1 after almost seven decades living in Homewood.
“During her remarkable 111 years, she witnessed incredible moments in history and the evolution of the world around her,” the village of Homewood said in a statement. “Through it all, Mary remained a shining example of resilience, grace and spirit.”
Cantway was born in 1914 to Homer and Jeannie Hernly, and grew up in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood.
She married her husband, Elmo Cantway, in 1940, and had her honeymoon at the Drake Hotel in Chicago, Cantway-Cook said.
“She’s on her honeymoon and they’re driving around the lake,” Cantway-Cook said. “She gets halfway around and my dad had to call his parents for money. See, they didn’t talk about money back then, before they married, so she thought he had money, because he was a big spender.”
Cantway and her husband had two children: Cantway-Cook and her older brother, Donald Cantway. Growing up, her mother sewed all of her clothes, Cantway-Cook said.
“She made suits for my dad, those leisure suits,” Cantway-Cook said. “She was a master seamstress.”
Cantway loved Frank Sinatra and the original “I Love Lucy,” her daughter said.
Cantway stayed in touch with members of her church high school group, called the Nut Club, throughout her life, her daughter said. She remembered being taken to see plays with the group when she was younger, including “The King and I” with Yul Brynner.
“I saw the original ‘Hair,'” Cantway-Cook said. “I remember, all those ladies, as soon as they showed their nakedness on the stage for ‘Hair,’ all those ladies, I had all them coming at me covering my eyes.”
Cantway moved to Homewood in 1957, according to the village. In 1970, she took a job as a clerk at South Suburban Hospital in Hazel Crest, her daughter said. She retired in 1990, at age 75.
Cantway attended the H-F Racquet and Fitness Club regularly, which her daughter said contributed to her long life.
Cantway-Cook said at Christmas, her mother would bake different types of cookies and give plates away to neighbors.
“Church, always church, church activities. She taught Bible school, all that stuff,” Cantway-Cook said. “She did volunteer everything. That’s what I remember doing. My whole life, I remember going to nursing homes once a month on Saturdays.”
Cantway loved to travel, her daughter said, and visited 14 countries — including Mexico, China, Greece and Spain — and most of the United States.
A longtime grievance of Cantway’s was that the house on Harwood Avenue in Homewood, where she lived in for more than 60 years, was across the street from the railroad tracks, which generated a lot of noise, her daughter said.
“It was the only house for sale in Homewood,” Cantway-Cook said. “That’s why she had to buy it.”
But her mother was given a special treat.
“On her 90th birthday, they shut down the train track. Engineers I met at bars, they still remember that,” Cantway-Cook said. “She said, ‘Don’t I deserve just one day?’ So they did it.”
Cantway-Cook was her mother’s caretaker during the latter years of her life, looking after her in her Homewood home. At one point, Cantway lived in a nursing home for a month, but didn’t like it.
“She said, ‘They’re too old for me,'” Cantway-Cook recalled. “I said, ‘Mom, you’re the oldest one there.'”
During the COVID-19 pandemic and for each year since, Cantway-Cook said, Walgreens workers came to Cantway’s house to give her vaccinations.
The Daily Southtown talked to Cantway at her 110th birthday celebration in 2024. She said her favorite president was Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who she called “brilliant.”
“One thing that I always thought that was spectacular was the space program,” she said. “Men going up into space — I couldn’t believe such a thing could even happen.”
The same year, Cantway was invited to a soft opening of the Wind Creek Casino in East Hazel Crest. When Cantway-Cook wasn’t willing to take her due to cold weather and because it was flu season, she was determined to find a ride.
“She called 911!” Cantway-Cook exclaimed. “They took her!”
She wound up being glad her mother had been able to attend the opening, Cantway-Cook said, because she was so happy when the police brought her home.
“She comes home, and she had the best time of her life,” Cantway-Cook said. “She was glowing.”
Since Cantway had a living funeral when she was a 110, there are no public funeral services planned, only a small private gathering at her home, Cantway-Cook said.
“Mary Cantway will always hold a special place in Homewood’s history,” the village of Homewood said in its statement.
elewis@chicagotribune.com
