Meet Your Neighbor: Life is a blessing for 93-year-old Marjorie Crider
Drivers must pass visual and auditory tests when they renew their license. Even those at 93-years-old.
Meet your neighbor and lifelong resident of Mansfield, Marjorie Crider.
“The lady asked me when I went to get my driver's license in October, ‘You're how old?,’" Crider said with a laugh.
Shift into reverse for a spell.
“Everybody calls me Marj,” said Crider. “I go by Lois. Church, school friends, I’m Lois. A lot of people call me, Granny. I have five great-great-grandbabies.”
“I was born and raised in Morrow County,” said Carl Crider, Marj’s second husband.
“We have been married 23 years,” said Marj. “He was a blind date. I had lost my husband and he was divorced.”
They went to Millersburg on their first date.
“He came to pick me up on a motorcycle,” said Marj. “Halfway there I said, ‘What kind of ride is this?' He said, It’s an ice cream ride.’"
“I thought a small cone sounded good. There was three big dips on that little cone. I don’t like ice cream,” she said, with another laugh.
It wasn’t their last ride. The couple dated for 10 years, and Marj got her motorcycle license on her 60th birthday.
A life filled with road adventures
The Criders were part of the Honda Gold Wing Road Riders Association (GWRRA) which held annual rallies known as the Wing Ding. The group officially shut down in 2022, according to Rider Magazine.
“We have been all over the United States. Nova Scotia, Canada,” said Marj. “I loved it.”
“We did charity work, too. It wasn’t all just ride, ride," she said. “We took stuffed animals to the Ashland Hospital.”
Many connections were made over 30 years.
“We made a ton of good friends,” said Marj. “A lot of them are gone. So you miss that; your life becomes quieter — sometimes boring."
“If you ever get a chance to ride a motorcycle, take it," she noted. "It’s the most interesting thing you can do, but make sure you ride a Gold Wing. They’re like the Cadillac of bikes.”
“The young kids, like my daughter and her husband, they prefer Harleys. (Harley-Davidson’s) do not ride good!,” Marj added.
Carl sold the bike in 2021.
“We no longer ride,” said Marj. “He’s almost 83. I just turned 93.”
Staying in shape
The Criders have been members of the YMCA in Mansfield for 16 years.
“I used to walk a lot at the mall,” Marj said. “Then I got connected to the Y.”
Water aerobics keeps her coming back.
“The people at the Y think I’m great because I’m 93 and still go three times a week," she said. "They say, ‘You’re our inspiration; if you can do it, I can do anything.’”
Marj considers members of the Y her second family.
“The people are so friendly, helpful. Carl’s been sick and our friends at the Y call, visit,” said Marj. “If I don’t show up — which I haven’t for 3 weeks because he was in the hospital and I had a bad cold — they were calling, ‘Are you OK? When you coming back?’ I made good friends. I am blessed.”
Marj isn’t one-dimensional. She also has a love for bowling.
“I bowled for about 62 years," she stated. "Lots of trophies. Highest score was almost to 300."
“I bowled with the same ladies for about 35, 40 years,” Marj added. “We bowled in Mansfield. When they closed that, Park Lanes, then we moved to Lexington, Lex Lanes. I had bowled in Galion. We went on tournaments. I loved it.”
Life threw her some gutter balls.
“I had knee surgery,” said Marj. “And then I got arthritis in my fingers. One day, the ball didn’t come out of my finger and I went down the alley on my belly with the ball and then hit my knee.”
That's when she called it quits.
“But I still went and had coffee with the girls," she added.
Wedding day was in October 2000
The Criders were married on Oct. 14, 2000.
“We probably invited 35 people," said Marj. "I’m surrounded by people that I’ve known forever.”
Her son flew north for the intimate wedding.
“My son came from Florida with his family to give me away," she said. "When we got to the church entrance, there was tons of people."
There was another surprise for the bride.
“They had a birthday party for me because I got married two days before I turned 70. Another cake! Nightgowns and all that. It was a wonderful wedding," said Marj.
The couple posed on Carl’s bike for an iconic photograph 13 days before their wedding. “We didn’t even know it was going to be on our wedding cake,” said Marj.
She said her life is a blessing in many ways.
“I still drive, do my own house cleaning, most of the yardwork," Marj pointed out. "I’m a lifetime member of the Ontario United Methodist Church. I grew up a mile from here."
There are other things that haven't changed.
“I’m always ornery, making people laugh," she said. "I’m happy. I love people. God is good.”
Correspondent Joe Di Lullo can be reached at jp.dilullo0926@gmail.com.
This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Marjorie Crider celebrating life at age 93
