Savannah Mother's Day Tribute: Tillie Stacy still a 'spitfire' after all these years
When Jack Stacy asked Gilbert and Jeanette Laird for their daughter Tillie’s hand in marriage, they prefaced their blessings with a disclaimer: “Well, you know you’re getting a spitfire.”
And, almost a century later, Matilda “Tillie” Laird Stacy of Savannah is as strong-willed and spunky as she was when she married Jack Stacy.
Explains daughter Ann, the ninth child born to Jack and Tillie, “It’s true (that she’s a spitfire). My mom has a lot of energy and doesn’t hold back, even as she approaches 96 years.”
This Mother’s Day, Tillie Stacy likely will be fielding phone calls from her children, grands and great-grand kids who live out of town, and spending time with those who reside in the Savannah area. Answering her children’s calls is something she does on a daily basis, says Tillie, who has been a widow for nearly 20 years.
“I have a phone in my bathroom, in the bedroom, in my chariot (her rollator), just everywhere, and if I don’t answer, they (the children) think I’ve fallen and the neighbors get a call,” she said, exasperatedly with a twinkle in her eye. No doubt, this mama is thrilled that she has such an adoring brood.
“They all get along,” she said, pounding her cane against the floor of her comfortable home, “because they know I wouldn’t put up with it if they didn’t.”
Still a 'spitfire' and independent
Growing up with three older brothers instilled in Tillie a sense of strength as well as an independent spirit that she maintains today. She speaks her mind, is sharp as a tack and laughs easily. Sometimes when she tells stories to a visitor, she leans over and talks in a hushed tone, as if she’s spilling a state secret.
Asked what she attributes her long life to, she shrugs and modestly says her “mind’s not perfect,” but anyone conversing with her would never know. “I only take one pill a day and that’s for blood pressure,” she explained, knocking her knuckles on a wooden table for good luck.
She stays active but no longer drives and misses that part of her independence. “I don’t like to depend on people,” she said, but her devoted children make sure she gets to the grocery store, and to various appointments.
Tillie’s Catholic faith also runs deep, thanks in part to a father who told his children that if they didn’t go to church, they would have to stay in bed all day, she said, once again with a twinkle in her eye. To this day, Tillie watches Mass daily on television and in 2003 received the Bishop Gartland Service Award from the Catholic Diocese of Savannah. She also is a loyal friend to longtime pal Patty Schreck, whom she visits three times weekly.
“I went to St. Vincent’s because Patty did and I loved it,” she said.
Tillie and Schreck have known each other since the sixth grade, were classmates at St. Vincent’s Academy and share plenty of memories, laughs and tears. One of Tillie’s brothers, Tom Laird, was just 21 and in the Air Force when he was killed during World War II.
“He was shot down over New Guinea but his body was never found,” Tillie recalled. A missing-in-action telegram was delivered to the Lairds, but Tom never was declared dead. The family was convinced that he was captured by the Japanese.
When the telegram was delivered to the Laird’s front door, Tillie was working as a counselor at Camp Villa Marie. She remembers Monsignor Felix Donnelly finding her and telling her that she needed to go home.
Tillie was the youngest of the five Laird children and the only one born in Savannah. Gilbert had met the former Jeanette Hollis in Bermuda where he ended up after the ship he was serving on (The City of Memphis) caught fire and was towed to the island.
“He met my mother at a dance and asked her to marry him that night,” Tillie said.
The Laird’s oldest daughter was born in Bermuda, and their next three children – three boys – were born in Norfolk, Virginia, where Laird was stationed. Sometime later the family moved to Savannah where the Laird name was synonymous with the riverfront.
Tillie’s grandfather, Thomas Henry Laird, was the Savannah River harbormaster and saved the river from being blocked by the Germans during World War I, she said.
Tillie met Jack Stacy in the 1940s at a Catholic youth event. He was after serving in World War II and she had started Armstrong Junior College. They were married soon after and started a family, which grew to 10 children in about 18 years.
Asked how she managed such a large family, Tillie says simply, “I didn’t have time to think about it. I was young and had a good husband.” She laughs easily when looking back at the days of raising kids during the era of real diapers and only one family car.
“I didn’t have a car until I was 40,” she said. “But we managed.”
Taking up golf
Jack Stacy loved golf, but Tillie didn’t have time to play until after she became mama to child number five. “I didn’t take up golf until after John was born,” she said. “The first time I played nine holes, I shot a 49.”
The couple passed on their love of golf to several of their children, including Hollis, who is child number four and a former professional golfer who has three U.S. Women’s Championships under her belt. Hollis was barely a teenager when she began competing in junior tournaments, with Tillie along for the ride. Tillie not only traveled with Hollis but became a respected member of the United States Golf Association’s women’s committee. The USGA framed certificates and medals hanging in the foyer of Tillie’s home are too numerous to mention, as are the family photos.
Tillie’s time serving the USGA meant meeting new people and traveling around the world to Venezuela, Hong Kong, Wales and other exotic locales where tournaments were held.
“I’ve been all over, and had a wonderful time,” she recalled.
Starting with first-born, Gil, all of the Stacy children were introduced to sports and a few took golf to the next level, including second-born, Laurie Stacy Dorsner; next-in-line, Tommy; number five, John; the ninth child, Ann; and number seven, Martha Stacy Leach, who like Hollis, is a successful former professional golfer. Mary, seventh-born, chose ballet; Jean, who is number six, dabbled in tennis as did Aimee -- the Stacy caboose -- who was the first girl to be awarded a tennis scholarship to Georgia Tech.
Martha once told her mother that she raised them to be independent and they all are, Tillie said, adding that none of her children were denied anything, all chose their owns paths in life, and she is proud of all of them.
“I’ve got everything I need, and I’m spending my children’s inheritance.”
For Mother’s Day, each of the nine surviving Stacy kids were asked to use one word to describe Tillie. Here is the Stacy clan in order of their birth and the words they chose to describe their mom.
Gil:. “Constant.”
Laurie: “Since I’m her favorite child (ha, ha), I’d say she’s the GOAT (greatest of all time), and I don’t mean the four-legged kind.”
Tommy: “Winner.”
Hollis: “Amazing.”
Jean: “Selfless.”
Mary: (Named for her mother, Mary Matilda). “Steadfast; unwavering strength.”
Martha: “CEO (Chief Everything Officer).”
Ann: “Spitfire. I bought Mama’s car when she gave it up, and and she wanted me to name it ‘Red’ (Jack Stacy’s nickname). I told her that I had already named it ‘Spitfire.’”
Aimee: “Solid.”
Polly Powers Stramm is a regular contributor to and former columnist with the Savannah Morning News. Share story ideas with her at pollparrot@aol.com.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Mother's Day Tribute: Tillie Stacy still a 'spitfire' after all these years
