on 04-18-2009 01:58

By DONNA KENNY KIRWAN

PAWTUCKET  -- When 102-year-old Evelyn Elise Delaney said recently, "I didn't travel much," it was quite an understatement.

Not only has the Pawtucket native resided in the city all of her life, she spent 95 years of it living on the same street.
Delaney, whose maiden name was L'Hereux, turned 102 on March 27 at her current home, the Jeanne Jugan Residence on Main Street. She was honored on that day with a party attended by her children, grandchildren and fellow nursing home residents.
During an interview recently that included her youngest son, Raymond, Delaney noted that she had been born and raised on Capital Street. When she got married, she and her husband, George Charles Delaney, moved three doors down, into a house that was owned by her grandfather. There she stayed, during her 71-year marriage to George (who passed away in 2001 at the age of 98) and throughout raising the couple's four children.
Raymond Delaney recalled that Capital Street had even figured prominently into his parents' courtship. "She used to sit on a rocking chair on her front porch, and my father would notice her there," he said.
Originally from Fall River, George Delaney had moved into an apartment on nearby Bagley Street after he came out of the Navy and he had occasion to pass by the L'Hereux residence. "She was quite a looker back then, with big eyes," he noted, smiling at his mother.
Delaney, who had one sister and three brothers, was an active teenager, and a self-professed "Tom Boy," which was somewhat unusual in those days. She said she loved horseback riding, climbing trees, hopping fences and "punching a punching bag" that belonged to her brothers. "I used to watch them use it and I taught myself," she said, mimicking the moves.
Delaney was also artistic, playing the violin and ukulele, and doing oil painting. She earned a scholarship to attend the Rhode Island School of Design, graduating in 1922. "I used to take the trolley car from Pawtucket. It was five cents to go to Providence," she recalled.
Although essentially a homemaker, Delaney was known for her oil painting portraits of babies and young children. "I used to do a painting whenever someone had a baby," she said. Raymond recalled that some of her baby portraits had been done on glass, backed by blue or pink paper. "They were beautiful," he noted, proudly.
Today, although hard of hearing and dependent on a walker to get around, Delaney is still sharp and appears content with her life. She speaks with pride of her children, who, besides Raymond, include a daughter, Barbara, and a son, George. Another son, Paul, passed away in 1963. She also has three grandchildren.
When asked what kept her so long in Pawtucket, she said she had always liked the city, but also admitted, "It's all I know."
The secret to her longevity? "You don't think about it!"