2008-10-24
Getting to Know Odie Lamarre
At 101, Odie Lamarre doesn’t let anything stop her. Fridays are set aside at Atria Lincoln Place for outings, and whether the destination is a picnic lunch at Colt State Park, the Warwick Mall, the bingo hall at Foxwoods or Iggy’s Clam Shack, you can bet that Odie will be on the van.
“I’m always ready to go anywhere,” Odie said. “I feel very lucky to be able to do these things, and as long as I have my health, count me in.”
Odie's husband also loved to travel.
“We were always on the go. My mother used to call me a gypsy,” she said.
The couple enjoyed many Conway bus tours to Canada, The Catskills and upstate New York.
Her friends and family members know that she’s in good company. One friend takes her out for card games at a local senior center, and her nephew and great-niece even took her on a plane to North Carolina last year to visit with her sister.
“My sister is more of a home body. She’s not as apt to travel as I am,” Odie said.
As a certified Rhode Island centenarian, Odie recently attended the Governor Carcieri's centenarian brunch with her favorite escort - Atria Lincoln Place van driver Ray Fontaine. Ray says he kept his camera handy and took a picture of Odie and Governor Carcieri - a picture she proudly displays.
So what is Odie’s secret?
“I do what I have to do and I don’t take the time to worry or wait for someone else to do it for me. Just get up and do it.”