DERRY — The town’s oldest resident has been presented with the Boston Post Cane, a tradition spanning more than a century in New England towns.
Lois Palmer Rae, 97, received the Boston Post Cane, an honor given to the oldest resident in a community, on Nov. 21.
Karen Blandford-Anderson, the chair of the Heritage Commission, presented the cane to Rae after delivering a proclamation to the Town Council.
“Lois’ life is truly remarkable,” Blandford-Anderson said.
Blandford-Anderson recounted a brief biography of Rae’s life and how she came to Derry. Rae was born in New Jersey and grew up traveling throughout the Northeast. She was the daughter of a landscape artist whose work allowed her to find scenery to paint.
Rae later attended Radcliffe College in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she studied art and history.
Rae had a career at an advertising agency before becoming an American Airlines stewardess in the 1950s. Her work took her across the country and around the world to Europe, Russia and China.
Eventually, Rae settled in Derry with her husband, Robert Rae, and son, Robert Rae Jr. She’s been a Derry resident for about 50 years, and lives at the Old Clark House on Chester Road.
The Boston Post Cane award stipulates the recipient must have lived in town for at least five years and must be its oldest resident. The tradition was started in Massachusetts in 1909, and still continues in about 500 communities in New England.
Derry is one of 117 reported communities in the state honoring its oldest resident with this award, according to the Boston Post Cane organization’s website.
The meeting room was decorated with Christmas cards Rae had painted in years past for friends, neighbors, and community members.
The Boston Post Cane award is an ebony cane with a golden handhold with the phrase “The Boston Post Cane to the Oldest Citizen of Derry” engraved into it.
The cane was presented to Rae by Councilor Phyllis Katsakiores, who serves as a liaison to the Heritage Commission.
“This is such an honor,” Rae said while hugging Katsakiores. “I thank all of you.”