This month, on February 6, Mary Grunder will be celebrating her 100th birthday. A private family dinner will be held in her honor at her son’s restaurant, the Axe & Oak in Wilton.
Born in February 1926, Mary worked as a registered nurse before marrying Kenneth Grunder, her husband of 75 years.
The couple had six children, and Mary spent her days taking care of her family, maintaining her home, and doing the books for the family business.
One of her biggest passions in life is baking, something she still does to this day. This hobby even earned her a nickname – the Broadway Cookie Lady, for all the boxes of cookies she brought from Iowa to her daughter’s shows in New York City.
When asked about her secrets to longevity, Mary contributes it to her happy marriage and family, and to having three wonderful meals a day, seven days a week. Long lives also run in the family, as her mother, Margaret Wirtz, lived to be 96.