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6 ? THURSDAY, JANUARY 1, 2004
Mrs. Ortte celebrates 105th
Echo staff photo by Ellis C. Cuevas
On December 20, 2003, Bay St. Louis resident, Mrs. Grace Ortte celebrated her 105th birthday. Mrs. Grace Ortte on Tuesday, gives her favorite cat, Emmie some attention at her Carroll Avenue residence in Bay St. Louis.
BY ELLIS C. CUEVAS
Publisher Emeritus
Mrs. Grace Ortte of Bay St. Louis celebrated her 105th birthday with family members on December 20, 2003.
Mrs. Ortte was born December 20, 1898 in New Orleans and has been a resident of Hancock County for over 85 years.
?As a youngster I visited Bay St. Louis many times via the Mary Jane (Commuter train),? she said on Tuesday.
Her daughter Marion Elliott, said her mother has her good and bad days, yet, she still likes to talk to people and have me take her frequently riding about the area.
Up until two years ago, Mrs. Ortte had enjoyed making visits to Casino Magic in Bay St. Louis.
Mrs. Ortte is now says she is the oldest resident of Bay St. Louis since the February death at age 104, of longtime friend Miss Celestine Labat, whom she said was two months older than her.
Incidentally, the two centenarians only lived about four blocks from each other.
Her 105th birthday was celebrated quietly, not like her 100th which involved a big family gathering.
One of the highlights of her 105th was a letter of congratulations	she
received from Willard Scott, of NBC News in New York.
Daughter Marion said Pat Pitalo, a Carroll Avenue neighbor was responsible for her receiving the letter from Scott.
Mrs. Ortte and her husband, Edward Ortte, who died in 1973, they married in 1917.
The Ortte?s first resided at Clermont Harbor, before moving to Bay St. Louis.
The family said it was ironic that Mr. Ortte was Hancock County Board of Supervisor when the 1947 Hurricane destroyed the county, and his son-in-law
Russell J. Elliott, (wife of Marion) was a Board of Supervisor	when
Hurricane Camille in 1969 destroyed the area.
In addition to being a supervisor president, Mr. Ortte was also a Hancock County School Board president.
Mrs, Ortte was involved with her husband?s three movie theaters in Hancock
County and others across the coast. There was the Ortte Theatre and Hiway Drive-Inn in Bay St. Louis and the Waveland Theatre on Coleman Avenue, Waveland.
Mrs. Ortte has only one daughter, three grandchildren, twelve great-grandchildren, and fifteen great-great-grandchil-dren.