Mary Borsari remembers a time when a family’s water had to be pumped at the community well and most of the men in town worked at the iron mill.

Surrounded by friends and family,  Borsari celebrated her 100th birthday on Sunday at Sippican Healthcare in Marion, not far from her childhood home in West Wareham.

"The train would come right through town to the mill," she said. "It was a lot different back then."

Borsari was born in West Wareham in 1914 and attended school at the four-room West Wareham School House. An excellent student, Borsari attended Kenyon Business School in New Bedford.

In 1938, Borsari married her husband, Leopold, who had grown up on the same street.

"My mother knew his mother. She had four boys and my mother had four girls," Borsari said. "He was a hell of a good guy," she said of her husband.

Leopold was a carpenter by trade but gave that up to put his three children through college. The Bosaris, who lived on Gault Road next to St. Anthony's Church, owned a package store on Route 28 for more than 25 years. Mary was the bookkeeper for the package store and for all of Leopold's other business adventure.

In the 1940s, Leopold bought 100 turkeys and raised them on his land. Mary remembered, perhaps not too fondly, carrying buckets of water from the community well for the turkeys. In the 1960s, the family raised chinchillas, trying to capitalize on the growing popularity of fur coats.

Borsari had three children: Butch, Peter, and Maribeth (who died in 2011). She has five grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

Borsari's eldest son, Butch, 75, said he could remember collecting rain water for laundry and using the wood stove as the only source of heat for the house. He also remembered the "fat parades" during World War II, where students would bring leftover cooking fat to school to be used for military munitions and explosives.

. When asked what her secret to reaching 100 was, she replied, "We worked hard."

Shortly thereafter, her son Butch walked across the party to where she was seated. Mary said, "This reporter wants to know how I made it to 100."

"You worked hard," he replied.