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At 113 Years Old, Cubs Fan Holds Out Hope

Posted on: Tuesday, 8 July 2003, 06:00 CDT

Mary Crombie marked her 113th birthday without ceremony but with familiar optimism about her beloved Chicago Cubs, notwithstanding their 94-year unlucky streak.

Following baseball's lovable losers for so long, though, has taught her not to predict a World Series victory. That hasn't happened since 1908, the year she turned 18 and Chicago beat Detroit in the fall classic.

"They will do well," Crombie declared, going no further.

Unlike the Cubs, the Dixon resident continues to impress those around her year after year. At 113, she remains largely independent while living at the Heritage Square retirement home in Dixon.

"She is remarkable," registered nurse Mary Taylor, who monitors Crombie and the other residents, said Wednesday. "She enjoys flowers and takes care of her own needs. She makes her bed every day - and it has to be done in just a certain way."

As much as anything now, she loves the Cubs, who recognized her support with a birthday letter in 2001. "She comes alive when those games are on," Taylor said. "And she knows the players."

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