Miami woman celebrates 102nd birthday: ‘I am happy to be alive’

Not everyone lives to see their 102nd birthday. So, when Michele Williams sent me an email a couple of months ago, telling me about her grandmother’s Aug. 29th birthday, I told her I would write a column about the elderly woman, known as Mother Clara Mae Temple.

Well, life got strange, and there was so much other stuff to write about that I could never find the space to feature Mother Clara. However, her birthday did not go unnoticed. She was honored on Sept. 1 at Miami Jewish Health Systems.

It’s never too late to remember someone like Mother Clara, who has lived 102 years and been witness to events and things I can only imagine.

As a black child growing up in Mount Andrew, Alabama, where she was born Aug. 29, 1915, Clara’s life wasn’t different from any of the other black children in her community. She was born on a farm, the second of five children — two girls and three boys — in pre-depression time to Clorhea and Lewis Maddox Sr. And like many other black children of her era, living on the farm protected her from the outside world, where there was prejudice and hatred.

As a child, Clara enjoyed her life on the farm, where there was plenty to eat and lots of love to spread around. She remembers the warm, loving and tender moments with her mother in the kitchen, where they would spend hours cooking, baking and just sharing girl talk.

Church was a great part of her family’s life and young Clara loved attending the services. One Sunday while at church, she met the love of her life — Lee Temple. Granddaughter Michele remembers her granddad telling her that when he saw the young Clara, he said to himself, “Gee, that is one beautiful young lady!” They married on Dec. 27, 1936.

The Temples became parents of five: Robert, Clara, Ozzie, Willie and Lee Jr. The family moved to Miami more than 50 years ago, and in 1992, Lee Temple died shortly after their 55th wedding anniversary.

Mother Clara never remarried. She found solace in her faith and in her daily walks around Miami’s Moore Park, where she met many people, including candidates and elected officials.

Clara said Moore Park was a place where she exercised her body and her voice.

Her granddaughter remembers that although Mother Clara loves her children and her grandchildren, she did not believe in sparing the rod and spoiling them.

“Her favorite line while giving one of them a spanking was, “This will hurt me, more than it hurts you,” Michelle Williams said.

“She instilled discipline with love, not only to her own children and grandchildren, but to all the children that were entrusted in her care while their parents worked. And that included most of her more than 10 grandchildren and over 25 great-grandchildren.”

Williams remembers that her grandmother was an “awesome” baker. “She made her cakes and the icing or filling from scratch. She was well known and sought after for her chocolate caramel and coconut cakes. And she also baked a mean mango bread and pecan pie,” she said.

Today, Mother Clara lives with daughter Clara. She doesn’t “hang around” the stove anymore because her eyesight has gotten bad. But she still loves the Lord, and although she doesn’t get out to church as much as she used to, she still enjoys reading the Bible as much as she can. Her favorite passage of scripture is, “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart,” Psalm 37:4.

A tall woman — she is six feet — Clara always loved to look pretty. Members of New Hope Missionary Baptist Church, where she has been a member since moving to Miami, know her as the tall, pretty woman who loved her three-inch heels and pretty hats.

But more than that, Mother Clara is a woman who loved serving her brothers and sisters in the Lord. At New Hope, she has been an usher, deaconess and Mother of the Church. She has joined with others at the church to reach out to the sick and shut-in, and she has fed the homeless and offered transportation to those who had no way to get to church.

When I spoke to her and asked how she felt, she simple said, “It feels good to be 102. ... I don’t do much now, just sit around, eat and read the Bible. I can’t see as well as I used to, but I am happy to be alive.”

Williams said her grandmother’s words of wisdom to those who feel they haven’t experienced all that life has to offer is simply: “Baby, keep on living.”

Pastoral anniversary

Congratulations to my friend the Rev. Dr. C.P. Preston Jr., who will celebrate his 31st pastoral anniversary with services 9:45 a.m. and 4 p.m. Sunday at at Peaceful Zion Missionary Baptist Church, 2400 NW 68th St.

The Rev. Dr. James Sampson, president of the Florida General Baptist State Convention and pastor of First New Zion Missionary Baptist Church of Jacksonville, will be the guest speaker at 9:45 a.m. and the Rev. Dr. W. M. Ramsey and the congregation from Greater Providence Missionary Baptist Church at Oakland Park will be in charge of the worship service.

Preston is a native Miamian, the son of the late Rev. C.P. Preston Sr. and Mother Teaster Burnett Preston, and was educated in the public schools of Miami-Dade County. He is a graduate of Carol City High School and his degrees include a Bachelor of Science from Florida Memorial University, a masters degree from Nova Southeastern University and a doctorate degree from Jacksonville Theological Seminary. He also has an honorary doctorate degrees from Smith Chapel Bible College and Trinity Theological Seminary of South Florida.

A visionary leader who has dedicated his life to enriching the lives of others by teaching and preaching the word of God, Preston is a 2018 candidate for president of the Florida General Baptist State Convention.

Preston and his wife, Robyn, are the parents of three grown children and several grandchildren.

High tea party

I’ve been to a lot of places, experienced a lot of special events. But I have never been to a high tea. If you, like me, have never experienced such an event, our time has come.

Minister Darlene Hord, founder of the Daughters of Zion, Women of Destiny says that at 5 p.m. Nov. 5, the third annual Graduation and High Tea Party will be a real royal event, with Her Royal Highness Princess Moradeun Adedoyin-Solarin as the featured guest.

Her Royal Highness is a princess of the Adedoyin royal lineage, and is the granddaughter of His Royal Majesty Oba William Christopher Adedoyin II, Akarigbo Anoko of Sagamu Remoland, Nigeria.

She is a veteran broadcast journalist and media consultant with more than 40 years in the industry. She serves as operational director for media and communications of the Global Women Inventors and Innovators Network (GWINN); African Women Essence International (AWEI) and chairwoman, trustee and spokeswoman for Girl Child Network worldwide (GCNW). She also is the producer and host of her own television talk show, “Princess Arize,” which airs on Bright Entertainment Network (BEN) Television (S 182) in London.

At the high tea party, 18 young women — who have undergone six months of intense transformational training in leadership, etiquette, personal and spiritual development, mentorship, nutrition and physical fitness, communications and financial management — are expected to graduate.

The event will be at the Miramar Multicultural Center, 2400 Civic Center Place in Miramar. Tickets are $60 each and may be purchased by calling D. Earnestine Moxyz at 786-203-3007, or by emailing her at ladymoxyz@yahoo.com

Trunk or Treat

Palm Springs United Methodist Church at 5700 W. 12th Ave. in Hialeah, will have its third annual Trunk or Treat from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday at the church.

The free event is a family festival and the community is invited to attend for a safe, fun celebration of Halloween. It will feature decorated car trunks filled with treats, a live DJ, storytelling and a pre-November arts and crafts show in the fellowship hall.

If you go, please do not wear scary masks.

Christmas Bazaar

Silver Palm United Methodist Church will have its annual Christmas Bazaar from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Nov. 4 at 15855 SW 248th St., across the street from Knaus Berry Farm and next door to Redland Middle School.

The bazaar will feature handmade crafts, plants, orchids, fresh produce and many articles in “Lydia’s Closet.”

Also featured will be the “scoop lunch,” where you pay $1 per scoop for scoops of homemade foods. Call the church at 305-247-3769 for more information.

‘Songs of Joyful Remembrance’

St. Andrews Episcopal Church at 14260 Old Cutler Rd. in Palmetto Bay will host “Songs of Joyful Remembrance — A Diverse Musical Look at Traditions of All Saints Day, Dia de los Muertos and Halloween” at 4 p.m. Sunday.

The program is presented by the Civic Chorale of Greater Miami in collaboration with Ameyal, Mexican Dance and Cultural Diffusion Ensemble and The Children’s Voice Choir, directed by Jamie Perez-Sutta.

Tickets are $25 for adults; $20 for seniors; $10 for students; and free for children 6 and under. Tickets include a post-concert wine and light bites reception. For tickets, go to www.civicchorale.info

This story was originally published October 24, 2017 at 5:54 PM with the headline "Miami woman celebrates 102nd birthday: ‘I am happy to be alive’."