Valdosta woman turns 100

Published 10:00 am Friday, November 20, 2020

VALDOSTA – At a small gathering, Maureen Maturi recently celebrated her 100th birthday.

Maturi was born Nov. 12, 1920, in the Asian country of Burma. She taught English to children in India, according to her family.

At 26 years old, Maturi relocated to the United States to work for the United Nations.

She was employed by the U.S. Army in Calcutta, India, where she worked for a lieutenant who was transferred to the States. The lieutenant sent an application to Maturi to work for the United Nations, she said.

In 1946, Maturi was accepted for the secretarial pool, she said.

Her first stop upon coming to the States was New York. She resided in an apartment with other girls working with the United Nations. Maturi said they became “life-long friends.”

She later married her husband, Robert, and the two moved to Des Moines, Iowa, due to his job. In 1964, the couple left for Valdosta where her husband worked for Dowling Bag Company.

“She was blessed with a wonderful husband and family, traveled to many countries and made a great set of friends in Valdosta,” Janine Pendleton, Maturi’s daughter, said.

Maturi has two other daughters, Pam Carter and Karen Deloach.

Pendleton said her mother liked to shop – often doing so in the Florida cities of Jacksonville and Tallahassee – and also liked to watch her husband dance.

“There was always music playing in our house on the console stereo with the big vinyl records,” Pendleton said.

Maturi has remained healthy throughout her years and has stayed involved with her family, Pendleton said.

She said her mother’s best trait is her ”grace under fire.”

“Mom always handled the ‘big things’ with calm and grace,” Pendleton said. “Her love for her family is unquestionable and unconditional.”