Happy Birthday Maryse Whorrall, Syracuse French Teacher, Who Turns 100 Today

Excerpt from an article written by Pat Corbett Conole and published by Syracuse.com.

To hide her bicycle from the Nazis in 1942 German-occupied Marseille, France, Maryse Whorrall, then 14, took it apart and put the parts in relatives’ homes, who all lived on the same street.

That same spirit of survival against all odds lives on with her today as Maryse turns 100 years old on August 18.

She taught French in the Jamesville DeWitt School District for 21 years, from 1965 to 1986 when she retired.

Maryse moved from her house on Hillsboro Parkway, near Nottingham High School, where she lived for 49 years, to Brookdale Senior Living in Manlius this past April.

Until she moved at 99 years old, she drove her own car and climbed a flight of stairs from her garage to the main floor of her split level home without help.

During the Nazi occupation during WWII, Maryse and her family lived in terror under extremely strict restrictions of food, water, material, leather, gasoline, travel and the news. Each person in her household was allowed one slice of bread a day and 5 eggs a month.

“That’s why I couldn’t believe the kids throwing away bread on their trays in the cafeteria when I first started teaching,” recalled Maryse.