NORWICH – The passing of 100 years can often a somber occasion, but as Chenango Memorial Hospital gets ready to celebrate its centennial, so too does one of its residents who is jovially laughing her way to the triple-digit hallmark.

“Its easier to laugh than it is to cry,” chuckled Rosemary Ingraham, an affable resident of Chenango Memorial whose sense of humor and bright-eyed demeanor make it hard to believe she is only a few short weeks away from celebrating her 100 birthday.

“She has so many relatives, we have had to space out the celebration,” said Rosemary’s son Lee B. Ingraham, who pointed to his sister’s recent visit from South Carolina.

The youngest of six, Rosemary was born on Nov. 20, 1912, at her family’s farm in North Colesville, to parents Jennie and Jerry Hayes. “I sure have done some funny things, being brought up by men,” she said referring to how she was raised by her father and his farmhands after her mother passed away when she was only 15 years old.

“They would put me up in the silo when I was a kid and leave me to play by myself while they worked,” said Rosemary, who later joined her father and the farmhands in the fields once she was old enough. “I don’t know how they put up with me, but they were all really good to me.”