Mallie Handy, who recently turned 100, sits at her home in Ennice wit a photo of her and husband, Everett, taken around 1960. Everett died in 1963. In the inset photo, a young Mallie Wright smiles for a picture taken in the 1920s.

Handy celebrates 100th birthday

Mallie Wright Handy, Alleghany’s newest centenarian, has seen many good times, lived through hardships, raised a family and experienced a century of history. However, she counts each day of her time here on earth a blessing.

Handy celebrated her 100th birthday Dec. 12, 2005. Her family hosted a party for her on the day before her birthday at the home of her son and daughter-in-law, Jack and Doris Handy.

Ms. Handy was born in Surry County near Devotion, the middle child of Frazier Wright and Betty Killon Wright. Her sister Margie was two years older than her, while her brother Connie was three years younger. Her mother, a native of Alleghany, influenced her husband to move the family into the county when Handy was young.

Because of her father’s interest in education, the three Wright children were encouraged to go to school. Handy noted her father, who primarily sold produce, had been educated and tutored by a college professor in the Devotion area.

Although all of Wright’s children attended, Handy was the only one to graduate from high school. According to Handy, Margie, the elder Wright daughter attended the school until she got married and brother Connie moved to Maryland, where he worked on a dairy farm.

Handy spoke briefly of her time at Glade Valley School, from which she graduated in 1924. “We didn’t get to go home on the weekends,” Handy said of the academy-type boarding school. “I went in September and I got to come home one time from then till Christmas. I loved (attending Glade Valley School).

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