Apr 15, 2013 4 min read

When Patricia Russell was asked how it feels to turn 100 years old, she replied in her soft Irish brogue, “Like I was at 20.”

Russell will turn 100 on April 20, a day she expects will be like many others, spent quietly in her room at Country Meadows of South Hills in South Fayette Township.

Her longtime friend, Barbara Seehausen, has other plans that include a quiet celebration with balloons and cake, which is being kept a secret from Russell.

The ladies have been friends and Upper St. Clair neighbors since 1957 and Seehausen refers to Russell as “my special friend.”

Russell was born Patricia Kyle on April 20, 1913, in County Dublin, Ireland. She loved to ride horses, especially one named Mulligan, which she considered to be a pet that she occasionally rode.

Russell sang in the choir in the Church of Ireland, and loved to garden. When asked to describe her native Ireland, Russell replied, “Lovely, mountains, plains and sunshine.” She had one brother and one sister and was content to remain in Ireland until she was a bridesmaid in her best friend’s wedding. That’s where she met the very handsome and tall Harry Russell. At the time, he was a member of the British Royal Navy.

The young couple moved to the United States, were married in St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Mt. Lebanon and soon settled in a home in Upper St. Clair. He sold insurance and after he died in 1980, she remained in the family’s home until about a year ago when she became a resident at Country Meadows.

Since 1957, when Seehausen and her husband moved from Germany to a house on the same street as the Russells, they have been faithful friends. Their friendship has grown stronger since both woman have been widowed.

The Russells did not have children, so they became unofficial members of the Seehausen family.

Russell never worked outside the home and loved to garden, especially, she said, growing potatoes, carrots, pansies and daisies.

Dogs are her passion.

“I love dogs,” she said in a soft voice as she sat in her spacious room in the memory support unit at Country Meadows. Her favorite breed is the Beagle, a number of which she has owned over the years.

“They are faithful, more even than humans,” she said as she patted a stuffed animal Beagle she named Andy. He sits on the couch in her room. Now, nearly 100, Russell relies on a walker to slowly make her way along the nursing center hallways. Several years ago, Russell was well known in her neighborhood for walking her Beagles over the years.

“In our neighborhood, Pat was always out walking one of her many Beagles that she had over the years, and, in this way, she got to know everyone in the area. In fact, the neighbors missed her when she did not come around,” Seehausen said.

When asked if she talks to Andy, Russell replied, “Yes, and he talks back to me.”

Once an avid tennis player, the only thing that remains of her tennis-playing days are two, bright yellow tennis balls used to stabilize the back legs of her walker.

She’s content living in the United States and being an American citizen, but she still misses Ireland.

“I miss the whole country,” she said. “And the smell of heather.”

As for her advice for others to live a long life, Russell said, “I’m a good lady. I lived a clean life and only married once.” And, no, she does not like Irish whiskey.

She called St. Patrick’s Day “a very fine day.” Her room door is permanently decorated with shamrocks and a banner proclaiming St. Patrick’s Day.

As for her upcoming birthday, Russell said she never thought about turning 100.

Her future plans? “I’m working on 200 now,” she said.